DAYTON – Berlin Hiland jumped out to a big second quarter run on Saturday afternoon against Ottawa Glandorf and raced past the Titans 45-25 to earn their sixth all-time state championship trophy on the floor of UD Arena in the Division 3 finals.
Early in the opening minutes of the contest the Titans came out swinging as they raced out to a 4-0 lead through the first minute and a half of the contest on fast break scores from sophomore Chloee Glenn. Hiland’s first marker came from senior Ashland commit Morgan Yoder with 5:09 on the clock to cut the advantage to 4-2.
Though the Hawks cut deeper into the Titan lead with an Aila Miller make to get to 5-4, OG again upped their lead to 7-4 with a basket from senior captain Kelsey Erford.
Ohio Dominican signee Brynn Mullet tied the scoring at 7-7 at 1:31 with the first of her four triples on the afternoon and helped to set up the go ahead three pointer by Yoder just moments later to put Hiland on top 10-7 at the quarter buzzer.
Ottawa Glandorf ended a scoreless run of two and a half minutes to open the second stanza with 5:31 before the half to cut the Hawks lead to 10-9 with the first of just two makes for the Titans in the quarter.
Leading 13-11 after a Katie Kaufman basket for OG, Hiland ended the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 20-11 halftime lead on baskets by Malone commit Kylie Horn and BGSU signee Zoe Miller with just seconds remaining.
Hampered by an injury suffered in the second quarter and gutting through the pain, Erford was unable to unleash her trademark slashing ability for OG in the third against a hounding Hiland defensive pressure reminiscent of the one utilized by the Titans throughout the season.’
Brynn Mullet’s fourth and final triple of the game upped the Hawks lead to 27-13 midway through the period and helped to keep the Hawks ahead on the scoreboard at the quarter stoppage despite a late basket by freshman Katie Kaufman.
Longtime Hiland head coach Dave Schlabach, coaching in the final game of his 30 year tenure saw his team build on their lead in the fourth quarter on a triple from Ashley Mullet and an 11 of 12 team performance from the free throw line that was led by Zoe Miller’s 6 of 7 personal effort in the closing minutes.
Sophomore Chloee Glenn, herself banged up in the contest and junior teammates Erin Kaufman and Ella Okuley provided all of the scoring in the final eight minutes of play for the Titans. Okuley, a 5’9 guard entered off of the bench with 2:41 to go and quickly added the first of her two baskets as she picked up a loose ball near mid court and raced to the opposite end for a layup.
Okuley finished the final score of the season for her Titans with 1:43 left as she again procured a scoop and score before the clock ticked down to zero on a 45-25 Hiland victory.
With the victory Schlabach ends his career at 689-99 and six titles in 11 trips to the state finals and ends this season at 28-1 with the lone loss coming to Division 2 champion Napoleon earlier in the season.
Ottawa Glandorf, making their third finals appearance ends the year at 26-3 and sees their senior class of Kelsey Erford and Anna Siefker amass a pair of state trips, three WBL titles, a regional finalist, and a 97-10 record.
Box Score:
Hiland (45):
Aila Miller 2
Morgan Yoder 5
Ashley Mullet 3
Kyli Horn 2
Brynn Mullet 14
Kelsey Swihart 2
Zoe Miller 13
FG: 12/47
3PT: 6/22
FT: 15/18
TO: 16
OG (25):
Kelsey Erford 2
Ella Okuley 4
Erin Kaufman 7
Katie Kaufman 4
Chloee Glenn 8
FG: 10/33
3PT: 0/5
FT: 5/12
TO: 28