CONGRATULATIONS LADY HAWKS!

The Hiland Hawks Ladies Basketball Team won its sixth state title in program history, completely shutting down Ottawa-Glandorf for a 45-25 win Saturday in the Division III state championship game.

"What a great way for this group to go out," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "They had the bull's-eye on their back. It was expected. We got everybody's best game. That's even harder in those years when you're expected to win it, to actually go do it. It took a lot of perseverance from our kids."

The dominant Hawks and that special senior class, with its 100-plus wins and plenty of district and regional titles to its name, got one more big win in the biggest game it ever played. The only tears cried on the Hiland bench were tears of joy.

Led by its signature defensive pressure that's frustrated so many teams over the decades, Hiland bottled up Ottawa-Glandorf for 32 minutes and did enough offensively to win the state title that they've been craving for so long.

All five of Hiland's starters — seniors Kyli Horn, Zoe Miller, Brynn Mullet, Kelsey Swihart and Morgan Yoder — have been four-year varsity players, and a state championship was always the only goal they truly cared about. That's how it goes in Hiland, with five championship banners — from 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2017 — staring at them every time they practice.

Now they've got one of those banners to call their own.

CONGRATULATIONS LADY HAWKS!!