Girls basketball: Midview buried by barrage of 3-pointers in loss at the Classic in the Country

BERLIN — Midview outscored Hiland in each of the first three quarters in the championship game of the Classic in the Country on Monday night, but the fourth quarter was its downfall. After hitting only two 3-pointers over the first three quarters, host Hiland found its range from beyond the arc in the fourth, knocking down four threes in the first four minutes of the fourth on a run that propelled them to a 47-44 victory over the Middies. "We watched a couple games of theirs before this and we knew they were shooters, but they really didn't hit much," Midview coach Brittany McNamara-Cole said. "Tonight, was their night in hitting all the threes they could. We tried to switch it up on defense and play in a zone that we're not used to, and then going man against some good shooters. At the end of the night, even if we were in their faces, they made it. "A shooter's going to shoot it and it's going to go in because it's just mechanics. At the end of the day, this game is going to help us in the long run. That's what I told our girls. A game at such high intensity and such a great atmosphere is going to help us in the postseason." Junior guard Mallory Stutzman started the 3-point barrage for Hiland (9-6) when she knocked down shots from the left wing on her team's first two possession of the fourth quarter. Then, junior guard Ashley Mullet created enough space to hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, which erased the Middies' lead and evened the score at 33. Mullet hit one more three, pulling up and knocking down a shot from the left wing that gave Hiland a three-point advantage with 4:28 remaining. "The last couple games, we haven't been hitting shots and finally you see one go through the hoop, you see your buddy make one, it kind of brings everyone up and everybody gets fired up and wants to hit a shot," Hiland coach Brady Schlabach said. "We finally started hitting some shots. I felt like all game we were getting good shots and just couldn't put the ball in the hoop. Then, finally, in the fourth quarter, we started hitting some." Though Midview (13-2) fought back to take one-point leads three times over the next two minutes, Hiland shut out the Middies over the final 2:04 and used a 4-0 run to seal the come-from-behind victory. Midview could not sustain the success they had from long range in the first half. After hitting two of five threes over the first 16 minutes, Midview missed all seven of its second-half attempts. Senior center Mary Meng, the 6-foot-5 post, battled through a fever over the past two days. She finished with a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. "It was just the fact that I knew I could make a difference for my team," Meng said of playing. "I knew I wanted to be here for this. As a senior, this is my last opportunity to play in the Classic in the Country and I wanted to come down here for that." Meng's coaches and teammates were impressed by her effort. "This was her flu game, I guess," McNamara-Cole said. "Everybody has one and just the will to want to compete and want to win is the thing that you can't match. To have her in this game and to be a part of it really helped. We're excited that she was able to come down here." "It motivates us a ton," Olivia DiFranco said. "Mary's an awesome person and that just showed tonight. Playing when she's not feeling the best, still giving it her all and making a huge difference in the game, that just motivates us even more to be able to give it our all because we're seeing a leader do that." Next up for Midview is a rematch against Southwestern Conference leader Olmsted Falls on Saturday. The Middies lost by 10 points in the first meeting. "In a great game like that, it does help us in the long run because of having to get through the adversity of a game so close," McNamara-Cole said. "We haven't had one at all, all season. We lost by 10 to Falls and other than that, we haven't had a close game. So just to have one of these games is really going to help us down the road." "It was amazing, especially to play Hiland at their home court," Leah DiFranco said. "It's a great experience for everyone. It's a huge atmosphere to play in and prepares us for Falls." Contact Matt Florjancic at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.