Tired Hawks fend off Hornets to take command of IVC
If it werent for number ones, the Malvern Hornets would have a perfect season going.The Hornets have three losses this season, all three coming to the top-ranked teams in the state of Ohio in Div. III and Div. IV.Unfortunately for the Hornets, the Div. IV top team is currently at the top of the heap in their conference, and when Malvern (11-3) came to Hiland (13-0) to play the Hawks on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at the Reese Center, they were treated to a 78-56 loss, their second to Hiland this season, with their only other loss being to Div. IIIs top team St. Peter Chanel.We knew this wouldnt be easy tonight, but you have to come in thinking you can compete, and we did, said Tucci.One advantage Malvern may have had was that Hiland was just coming off an incredibly emotional game both physically and mentally against Div. II State champion Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. If there was a time to strike, it was now for the Hornets.That time lasted about eight minutes into the game.Malvern took its lone lead of the night when Travis Tucci drove inside a recurring theme on the night and banked home a lay-up. The Hawks then sandwiched a Tucci free throw around a Neil Gingerich bucket and three-pointers from Cam Miller and Dylan Kaufman for an 8-3 lead.Tucci scored seven of his team-high 22 points in the first quarter, and kept Malvern close at 14-9, but it was too much of a one-man show for the Hornets to hang around long.I thought defensively we played hard tonight, I cant complain about our effort there, said Malvern coach Denny Tucci. But we stood around way too much on offense, and you cant do that against a team like this. We stood and watched Travis try to carry us on his back tonight, and as well as he played, he couldnt do it all.The second quarter proved to be Malverns undoing, although that had more to do with the way Hiland attacked the rim than anything the Hornets did.Seger Bonifant scored inside for the Hawks, and after Max Kapron scored, Bonifant made a lay-up, Kaufman hit a free throw and Neil Gingerich scored on a nifty pass from Kaufman for a 21-11 lead.Tucci then made a conventional three point play, but Bonifant went glass then hit a trey to extend the Hiland edge to 26-14. After Kapron scored to make it 26-16, that would be as close as Malvern would get the rest of the way. Jason Miller hit the first of three triples and Bonifant completed a three-point play to make it 34-16. By the time Kaufman made two free throws then crushed home a massive dunk, Hiland held a 40-22 lead heading into the half.That was perhaps the best quarter of basketball we have played this year, said Hiland coach Mark Schlabach, followed by perhaps the worst.The third quarter saw the Hawks get extremely sloppy with the ball, and that, combined with Malverns quickness, actually gave the Hornets some hope, as they carved the lead to 14 at 49-35. But Kaufman then scored inside, split a pair of free throws and Bonifant banked home a five-footer to up the lead to 54-35.Beginning the fourth, Jason Miller busted a trey, Kaufman scored on a lay-up, Gingerich scored on a baby hook and Bonifant finished the run with a move inside, and Hiland had an impenetrable 65-41 lead.I thought we were tired and sloppy tonight, said Schlabach of the evening. We really went hard in practice yesterday, because we felt like we had to in order to get mentally ready for these guys (Malvern). I thought it showed.Missing some close-up shots, wide open three-pointers they normally make, and some sloppy passing was uncharacteristic for the Hawks. And Schlabach said that his team did not rebound the ball well at all, noting that every one of those efforts is indicative of a tired team.Our concentration on the boards wasnt quite there, said Schlabach. It was kind of a weird game. These are two pretty good teams, but I dont think either team played their best.With the Holiday Classic, combined with the St. Vincent-St. Mary and Malvern game so close together, Schlabach said that those two tests were crucial in the growth of the team.He credited the bench play of Cameron Miller (two threes), Todd Ropp and Cody Gerber as a key to Hiland being able to stretch out the lead throughout the game.On the night, Kaufman led all scorers with 25 points, having moved into second place on the all-time Hiland scoring list behind only Junior Raber. Bonifant added 20, but aside from the two All-Ohioans, there was plenty of help, with Jason Miller adding nine, Gingerich eight, and Ropp and Cam Miller six apiece.The win keeps Hilands record spotless in Inter-Valley Conference play, and gives the Hornets two losses, both to Hiland, meaning that any hopes of gaining at least a piece of the IVC crown are disappearing quickly for the Hornets, while a fourth straight IVC title grows ever-closer for the Hawks.
