By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

LOGAN — It was one heck of a ride but it ended a little too soon for the Green Lady Bobcats.

The Lady ‘Cats best season in more than three decades came to an end on Thursday with a 57-35 loss to the Berlin Hiland Lady Hawks in the Division 7 regional semifinals.

Green ended its season 22-2 with its first Southern Ohio Conference title since 200 and first district championship and regional berth since 1993.

“Not a bad season for a group of kids who are very young,” said Green head coach Melissa Knapp.

“Our seniors came in for four years and worked their tails off.  We’ve grown as a team. To come in against a storied program like (Hiland) and not back down, that’s a tribute to our kids.”

The game was close until a scoring burst by the Lady Hawks gave them a 13-point halftime lead.

Green battled back to within 7 points in the third quarter before their offense went cold and Hiland took off again.

“The score was not indicative of how the game went,” said coach Knapp.

“Every game we’ve had in the last month was a game of runs. They went on a run. We got down early but we didn’t give up.”

Hiland connected on 11 3-point shots.

“I knew they were going to do that. They take 10,000 shots a summer each player. They work hard and they earned it. That’s hard to beat.  I kind of admire that,” said coach Knapp.

Green trailed 16-8 late in the first quarter when Ellie Haberg hit a 3-pointer and Macy Mullet sank to free throws to make it 21-10.

Abbie Knapp made a putback shot with 14 seconds left as Green trailed 21-12.

Matti Hayslip hit a 3-pointer and Abbie Knapp hit a 10-footer as Green got within 32-22, but Mullet’s 3-pointer made it 35-22 at the half.

Knapp hit a 3-pointer and a 15-foot to start the second half and Hayslip’s layup off a nice pass from Knapp got Green within 37-30 with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

But the Lady Hawks scored 10 unanswered points to lead 47-30 at the end of the quarter.

Haberg hit a 3-pointer and got a putback that opened up a 52-30 lead. Knapp’s 3-point play with 5::07 left stopped the run but Evie Mast’s 2 free throws with 2:03 left made it 55-33.

Knapp scored a game-high 23 points and Hayslip added 11 points for Green.

Hiland’s Joplin Yoder scored 15 points while Haberg,  Mullet and Mast had 10 points each for the Lady Hawks (22-4).

Green 12 10 8 5 = 35

Hiland 21 14 12 10 = 57

GREEN (22-2): Sydney Bainer 0 0 0-0 0, Addison Blizzard 0 0 0-0 0, Myles Hunt 0 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth McBee 0 0 0-0 0, Mylee Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Ava Abrams 0 0 1-2 1, Matti Hayslip 1 3 0-0 11, Abbie Knapp 7 2 3-3 23. Totals: 8 5 4-5 35. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: Hayslip.

BERLIN HILAND (22-4): Macy Mullet 0 2 4-6 10, Ellie Haberg 2 2 0-0 10, Victoria Weaver 0 0 0-0 0, Evie Mast 0 2 4-4 10, Eastyn Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Sienna Immel 0 0 0-0 0, Trish Troyer 0 2 0-0 6, Maci Miller 0 0 2-2 2, Payton Yoder 0 0 0-0 0, Joplin Yoder 3 3 0-0 15, Carly Weaver 0 0 0-0 0, Perryn Mishler 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 7 11 10-12 57. Fouls: 5. Fouled out: None.

2 Macy Mullet 3 Ellie Haberg 5 Victoria Weaver 11 Evie Mast 12 Eastyn Miller 13 Sienna Immel 15 Trish Troyer 22 Maci Miller 31 Payton Yoder 35 Joplin Yoder 40 Carly Weaver 41 Perryn Mishler