Too high to get over, Hawks dominate glass in 63-28 victory over Saints
He just didn’t realize how much of a disadvantage it would be.
Hiland traveled to New Philadelphia to face the Saints on Tuesday, Dec. 13, and the 14-9 first quarter Hiland lead grew by incredible proportions the rest of the way, the final 63-28 Hiland victory thanks in large part to Hiland’s board advantage.
“Until tonight we were right where we wanted to be,” said Miller. “The kids worked hard, but defensive rebounding for us was atrocious. Against a good team like that, you can’t give them extra chances, and we gave them chance after chance after chance, and that simply wasn’t going to get it done.”
Hiland came up with 18 offensive rebounds in the contest, a massive number, which led to some easy put back buckets from point blank range.
That allowed Hiland to build a 14-9 first quarter edge into a commanding 32-13 lead at the half. That ballooned to 42-20 after three quarters, and Hiland’s bench picked up right where the starters left off.
TCC tried to take the air out of the ball early, playing a very slow-down tempo, which Schlabach said was frustrating for his Hawks early on.
“Their style that they play is a little frustrating to play against,” said Schlabach. “I think our guys were pressing on offense a little bit because of the long possessions we had to endure on the defensive end. That really wears you out.”
Because of that the clock ran almost continually throughout the night, with very few whistles, making for a quick game.
Coming off a game at Malvern in which they didn’t play particularly well, Schlabach was pleased with the defensive effort of the Hawks on this night, holding an opponent to less than 36 for the third time in four games.
“We were really solid again defensively, which was nice to see after what I thought was a sub-par defensive game the other night against Malvern,” said Schlabach.
The Hawks are now giving up a paltry 33 points per contest, a testament to their hustling, swarming defensive style of play. Schlabach said that what the Hawks have been focusing on is getting multiple consecutive stops, noting that when that happens, teams can start to doubt their own ability to score.
The one thing he is waiting on is for his Hawks to start stroking perimeter shots like he knows they are capable.
He said that the team hasn’t gotten into a rhythm yet offensively, and because they are creating so many easy buckets off their defensive pressure, it has limited their opportunities to get into the flow offensively.
Which is why the coach was thrilled to see bench players Cameron Miller (2), Cody Gerber and Jordan Yoder drain triples in the fourth quarter.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, it’s good to see the ball go in the hole, because that kind of thing is usually contagious,” said Schlabach.
The game also marked a contest between master and mentor, Miller serving several years as an assistant under Schlabach.
Did knowing what might be coming give Miller and the Saints any kind of advantage?
“We can know exactly what is coming, and they are so good that they are going to run you over anyway,” said Miller with a laugh. “We knew what their game plan was and we thought we were OK taking a few things away, but the offensive rebounding was huge. We just gave up way too many chances. They aren’t just a good team, they are a great team.”
The slowdown game worked to a certain extent in the first half for the Saints, but when they had to abandon it and go to catch-up mode in the second half, the score got away from them.
Dylan Kaufman paced the Hawks with 18 points, while Seger Bonifant added 11, Neil Gingerich scored nine, Cameron Miller chipped in with eight and Cody Gerber added five.
For the Saints, James Tolloti scored nine, Doug Ross added eight and Eric Keitz and Andrew Cugliari had six and five respectively.
Published: December 13, 2011
