On Thursday night, the Hawks' latest victim -- Columbus Africentric -- was left seeing triple.

Hiland dropped in 8-of-10 third-quarter 3-point attempts, breaking free from a close game and hanging a 64-40 whooping on Africentric in Div. IV regional play at Pickerington North High School.  The highly touted Africentric Nubians had their season ended at 19-5.

The Hawks, ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press the entire season and now 25-0, advanced to Saturday night's regional championship against Glouster Trimble, which defeated southeastern 76-57 in the Pickerington nightcap.

"I think we played scared in the first half, so I just reminded our kids that they put on their shorts the same way we do," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said.  "We just needed a run to loosen things up, but I didn't know it would end up being an eight-minute run."

With eight turnovers and just 9-of-28 shooting (3-of-10 from 3-point land), Hiland found itself behind at halftime (25-23) for the first time this season.  Launa Hochstetler, a University of Valparaiso recruit and Eastern District Player of the Year, decided to do something about it.

Launa hit two 3-pointers in the first minute of the third, and in just over four minutes the senior point guard had a hand in all 12 of Hiland's points.  She scored nine and assisted on a Leah long ball as the Hawks pushed their lead to 35-29.

The advantage would only swell, as a 17-0 blitz in the final 3:38 of the third eventually helped Hiland outscore the Nubians 29-4 in the frame and take a 52-29 lead.

Freshman sharpshooter Jena Stutzman hit three of her five 3-pointers in the run, while Leah added another 3 and a pull-up jumper on the right baseline.

Lindsay Stuckey dropped in one from beyond the arc, too, helping Hiland finish 12-of-22 from 3-point range and 22-of-50 total.

"It may not have shown on the scoreboard, but I thought we gradually wore them down in the first half," Schlabach said.

"In the midst of that big run, I had subbed four girls and they hadn't subbed any.  You could tell they just weren't the same team."

Africentric coach William McKinney felt fatigue wasn't a problem, though.

"I don't think it had so much to do with depth, as it did with 3s raining in from everywhere," McKinney said.  "At halftime, we told our girls that (Hiland) was going to pressure the ball hard, but more importantly, they were going to come out shooting.

"If you shoot 8-of-10 from 3 in any quarter, you will beat any opponent, anytime, anywhere,"

Launa, who shot 1-of-8 in the first half, finished with 11 points and seven assists after providing her team with the spark-plug it needed.  Stutzman complemented nicely, going 8-of-12 from the floor (5-of-6 3-pointers), to finish with a game-high 21 points.  Her back-to-back 3-pointers in the last 1:21 of the first quarter helped Hiland pull even after falling behind 13-7.

"Obviously, the freshman was really big," Schlabach said of Stutzman.  "She was a big part of our supporting cast who was very important.

"In my 15 years here, my philosophy has been 'Get the ball to the hot hand,'" Schlabach added.  "We went right back to Launa early in the third, and right back to Jena a few times.  We did a great job penetrating and pitching and it was fun to watch."

Leah Hochstetler finished 4-of-5 from deep and had 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half.  Stuckey added nine points and a game-high seven rebounds, as the Hawks controlled the boards 33-24.

Senior transfer Rickeya McElroy, a 6-foot-2 post who will attend a prep school in North Carolina with hopes of getting a Div. I scholarship after that, led Africentric with 15 points.

She scored eight of those in the fourth quarter, as she was hounded all game by double and triple teams and took just 11 shots.

Freshman forward Tyeasha Moss, who came in averaging just under 20 points per game, was held to just five.

ShiNiece Cox had eight first-half points and three first-half assists before being benched in the third quarter for not upholding defensive responsibilities.

"Oh man they were great," McElroy said.  "They play hard, they play smart.  They deserve to be No. 1.

"We were all hyped up and ready to play, and at halftime we were in good shape.  Then they made all those 3s and we lost our confidence.  We knew we probably weren't gong to catch up after getting down by a lot."