Meet the D-IV Teams: Hiland, St. Henry

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

The state’s No. 1 and No. 3 ranked Division IV teams will tip off Friday’s State semifinal games at the Jerome Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University.

Berlin Hiland and St. Henry will square off at noon, followed by Crestview and Richmond Heights at 2 p.m. The winners will meet for the Division IV State title at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Here is a look at Berlin Hiland and St. Henry.

Berlin Hiland Hawks (27-1), No. 1 Associated Press poll

Head coach: Mark Schlabach (14th year, 310-57 at Hiland, 415-75 overall)

State Champion: 3 (2012, 11, 92)
State Runner-Up: 1 (1962)
Years in State Semifinals: 11 (2019, 18, 12, 11, 07, 00, 99, 98, 92, 86, 62)

Schlabach on his team: “When the season started we didn’t necessarily think we were going to have the year we did. We’ve had some really good play from our seniors and a few surprises from our underclassman. We won a few games in the regular season that we shouldn’t have, and we’ve been able to put together some good games during our tournament run.”

Schlabach’s on St. Henry: “If you’ve seen St. Henry just take their kids and subtract two inches and 20 pounds, you’ll know what most of our kids look like. They’re just a really good basketball team and are well coached. We’re used to having a lot of advantages athletically and depth wise, and I think they take some of that stuff away from us.”

Sclabach on the Division IV Final Four: “We’ve played Richmond Heights in the regional finals before so we’re familiar with them. The tremendous communities that you have with ours, St. Henry and Convoy, as a fan you really couldn’t ask for anything more than what you’ve got. It’s exciting with the teams that are there and there should be some good games with different styles and good players.”

ROSTER

10 Will Schlabach G 5-9 So.
11 Kody Miller G 5-10 Sr.
12 Andy Miller G 5-10 Sr.
15 Grant Miller G 5-8 Fr.
15 Reece Schlabach G 5-8 So.
21 Kendall Hochstetler G 6-1 Sr.
23 Jared Raber G 5-9 Sr.
24 Chris Shetler G 5-11 Fr.
25 Trey Troyer G 5-8 So.
31 Kyle Miller G 6-1 Sr.
32 Hunter Sommers G 6-1 So.
33 Dylan Weaver G 5-11 Fr.
33 Kendall Mullet G 5-7 So.
35 Tony Yoder G 5-10 Fr.
35 Wyatt Freeman G 5-10 Fr.
45 Korrie Hostetler P 6-7 Jr.
52 Sam Habeger P 6-3 Jr.
55 Caden Miller P 6-1 Fr.
55 Ryan Miller P 6-1 So

REGULAR SEASON

Millersburg West Holmes W, 71-28
Strasburg-Franklin W, 49-39
West Lafayette Ridgewood W, 65-33
Uhrichsville Claymont W, 67-56
Grandview Heights W, 75-49
Lore City Buckeye Trail W, 60-32
Newcomerstown W, 77-19
Cleveland East Technical L, 43-55
Tallmadge W, 68-58
Mansfield St. Peter’s W, 46-35
Gnadenhutten Indian Valley W, 44-26
Sugarcreek Garaway W, 50-32
East Canton W, 68-22
Wooster Triway W, 54-40
West Lafayette Ridgewood W, 66-39
Uhrichsville Claymont W, 48-24
Beverly Fort Frye W, 60-41
Lore City Buckeye Trail W, 74-34
Newcomerstown W, 80-38
Gnadenhutten Indian Valley W, 73-43
Sugarcreek Garaway W, 47-41
Strasburg-Franklin W, 43-37

SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT

Newcomerstown W, 76-19
Caldwell W, 57-22

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans W, 48-39
Strasburg-Franklin W, 58-48

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant W, 70-39
New Boston Glenwood W, 75-32

St. Henry Redskins (23-4) No. 3 Associated Press poll

Head coach: Eric Rosenbeck (10th year, 183-62)

State Champion: 4 (2004, 91, 90, 79)
State Runner-Up: 1 (2000)
Years in State Semifinals: 6 (2019, 04, 00, 91, 90, 79)

Rosenbeck on his team: “The season’s obviously been very successful. It started out a little bit shaky, because we had all but two guys who played football and we were pretty banged up. As the season wore on we kind of hit our stride and now we’ve won 16 in a row. A lot of that is just mental toughness, grit and a lot of guys who want to compete at the highest level.

Rosenbeck on Berlin Hiland: “Andrew Miller (G) is my main concern, because he’s a load and he looks fantastic. He reminds very much of (Riley) Huelskamp of Anna, so the No. 1 thing that stands out to me is Miller’s ability to wreak havoc on the entire game.”

Rosenbeck on the Division IV Final Four: “It’s not very many times you see the top three ranked teams in the state make it. Crestview’s about 45 minutes from us so we know them very well. We know the tradition of Berlin Hiland and how great their program is, and with Richmond Heights’ athletes, we know they’re going to present problems. It should be a fun tournament.”

ROSTER

0 Logan Lefeld F 6-2 So.
1 Zach Niekamp F 6-1 Sr.
2 Jay Knapke F 6-3 Sr.
3 Casey Bruening G 5-11 So.
4 Andrew Lange G 6-0 Jr.
5 Lucas Niekamp G 6-2 So.
10 Ben Evers G 5-11 Jr.
11 Riley Link G 5-11 Jr.
21 Issac Wendel G 5-11 Jr.
22 Bennett Gels G 6-0 Fr.
23 Carter Ontrop F 6-2 So.
32 Ethan Thieman G 6-0 Sr.
33 Sam Hartings F 6-4 Sr.
40 Caden Niekamp C 6-6 Sr.
44 Matt Bertke C 6-5 Fr.
Nate Niekamp G 6-1 So.

REGULAR SEASON

Spencerville W, 65-31
Russia L, 46-60
Lima Shawnee W, 59-54
Coldwater W, 43-33
Fort Loramie W, 39-36
Coldwater W, 60-58
Maria Stein Marion Local W, 52-47
Maria Stein Marion Local L, 43-48
Lima Bath W, 83-32
New Bremen W, 61-31
Anna L, 44-60
Versailles W, 62-59
St. Marys Memorial W, 54-53
New Knoxville W, 58-21
Wapakoneta W, 56-54
Rockford Parkway W, 60-44
Celina W, 75-69
Fort Recovery W, 62-39
Van Wert W, 51-26
Ansonia W, 59-52
Minster W, 54-52
Delphos St. John’s W, 56-42

SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT

Ada W, 64-47

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Minster W, 48-40
Maria Stein Marion Local W, 52-40

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Springfield Catholic Central W, 54-36
Jackson Center W, 46-43