Redbirds, Hawks help celebrate a monumental mark

A long, long time ago, in what seems like a galaxy far, far away, current Hiland Hawks boys basketball coach Mark Schlabach began his boys coaching career at Loudonville High School.

It didn’t take long for him to build that program into a state title contender, and when he moved to Hiland to take the helm of the Hawks’ program in the 2005-06 season, he promptly did the same.

When Hiland won its Division IV regional title last season to earn a spot at state, it also marked Schlabach’s 500th career victory in boys basketball, a shining accomplishment that fewer than 50 head coaches have reached in the state’s illustrious century of hoops.

On Friday, Dec. 1, prior to Hiland’s season-opening 48-44 win over Spire Academy, the community celebrated that accomplishment, and Schlabach had no idea it was coming.

Seger Bonifant, Hiland athletic director, had set up the celebration and somehow managed to do so without anyone spilling the beans to Schlabach.

“There was five minutes left on the warm-up clock, and all our guys come walking over to the bench, and I thought, 'What in the world are they doing,’” Schlabach said. “Seger definitely pulled one over on me.”

As Schlabach stood among his current players, he watched as one by one former players from both Hiland and Loudonville walked out on the floor to hug and congratulate the man all of them still refer to as Coach.

Bonifant actually had the Loudonville players and others hang out in the concession area before entering as to not give the head coach any possible warning of the surprise that was to come.

Bonifant said the idea started a year ago when he received an article from East Holmes Schools Superintendent Erik Beun that highlighted something Green High School had done. He began texting some people including Schlabach’s former Redbirds player and Hiland assistant coach C.J. Spreng, who wrangled up all of the Loudonville players.

The two weeks prior to the event, he began contacting individual Hiland players with a simple message.

“I told each one of them, 'Here’s what we’re doing and don’t tell a soul,'” Bonifant said. “And especially don’t tell anyone who would tell Coach about it. I tried hard to keep it a secret, which isn’t easy around here.”

Bonifant, who starred on the 2011 and 2012 Hiland state championship teams, was so secretive he didn’t even say anything to Schlabach’s wife Amy until 4 p.m. on game night when he told her not to be late.

Bonifant had the game ball from the regional championship game and had it painted up for the special occasion. That ball was presented to Schlabach after he had greeted each of the nearly 50 players. Schlabach then posed in a group photo, which was filled with genuine smiles.

“It couldn’t have turned out better,” Bonifant said. “I think all of us being here shows people what Coach means to us. We’ve got great lives with families, and it’s awesome to allow Coach to see that he was part of building something special in all of our lives.”

Bonifant said he had no trouble finding players who wanted to be a part of the celebration.

Following the game, the Redbirds players stood and reminisced with Schlabach, sharing memories and providing updates on where they are now. It was the first time many of them had seen each other let alone Schlabach for years.

“Most of those guys were from my first team I ever coached,” Schlabach said. “I was so hard on those guys, and they would have run through a wall for me, and I have a very special relationship with those guys, and it was really neat to see them.”

He said the wins compiled will always pale in comparison to the relationships he has built with his players over the years, many of them players with whom he continues to have strong contact with today.

“This was neat,” Schlabach said. “I can’t believe Seger pulled this off without me knowing about it, but I’m very glad he did because these guys are all special to me.”

On a night designed to let the current players provide most of the entertainment, this night was highlighted by a group of Redbirds and Hawks flocking to the Reese Center to honor their head coach.