Salt and Pepper?
Salt-N-Peppa?
Tom and Jerry?
Johnny and June?
Shaq and Kobe?
Surely you get this. These are all great all-time dynamic duos.
At Meadowbrook High School on Saturday, Feb. 25 the Hiland Hawks girls basketball team had their own dynamic duo dealing buckets in the Div. IV East district final.
Hiland juniors Mallory Stutzman and Ashley Mullet each scored 24 points for the Hawks leading them to a 60-41 win over River High School and sending them to the school’s eighth regional tournament berth in the last nine years.
As the number two seed in the district, Hiland knocked down ten 3-point baskets bouncing the number one seed River from bracket. The Hawks actually made more bombs from downtown (10) than the did two point field goals (9).
Stutzman ripped half of Hiland’s ten made triples making five of her own while on to her season-high 24 points. Mullet tossed in three from deep, Evie Mast hit one and Claudia Troyer nailed one in the first quarter.
While doing the ball handling chores in the fourth quarter, Mullet went ahead and just out-scored the Pilots 11-6 in the final stanza by herself.
It might not be time to add Mullet and Stutzman to the long list of great duos, but on Saturday night they might have crept up the directory.
Leading the Pilots (20-4) in scoring was Kelsey Harlan, a punchy player in her own right, she had 20 points. Harlan’s running mate Rylee Knight reached double figures with 11 points and made some key baskets to keep River within striking distance.
Helping Mullet and Stutzman was sophomore Joplin Yoder’s four points, Abbie Miller’s two points and Troyer and Mast each ended with three a piece.
Hiland (20-6) will now head to the Regional semi-final game against South Gallia on Thursday, March 2 at 6 p.m. The Div. IV Regional semi-final against the Rebels will be played at Pickerington North High School. South Gallia tiptoed past Waterford on Saturday afternoon by just a bucket, 48-46.
The Hawks trailed River 10-5 midway through the first quarter following Zoey Fox’s 3-pointer. Mullet answered with her first three of the day, knocked down a runner in the paint and then hit her second triple to end the first quarter and tie it up at 13-13 after one.
Trailing 18-20 in the second quarter Hawks’ coach Brady Schlabach then dialed up Stutzman’s number with some classy set plays. Stutzman nailed three of her five triples and added one of those good ole’ two-pointers, scoring 11 points in a fury of action pushing the Hawks ahead 31-23 at the break. The Hawks wouldn’t trail again in the game after Stutzman’s three gave them a 21-20 lead with 4:15 to play in the second.
The Pilots would keep the deficit around 10 points most of the third quarter, but Mullet’s dominance was the difference in the fourth as the Hawks were able to extend their lead to the insurmountable zone. If that’s even a thing.
Follow us on Twitter ( @330insiders ) Thursday, March 2 for scoring updates during the Regional semi-final. Who knows what the streaking Hawks, winners of 12 straight, and their dynamic duo might do next.
