This past week may have featured a lot of snow and blustery winter-like weather outside, but in the confines of the Hawks Nest it was a hot Sommers.

As the junior high basketball season winds down and heads into tournament time, Noah Sommers heated up against East Canton for 14 points Jan. 25, in Hiland’s 51-33 victory in seventh-grade basketball against East Canton. Three nights later he one-upped that total, garnering 15 points in leading the Hawks to a 55-14 thrashing of Newcomerstown.

In eighth-grade ball, Brady Schlabach poured in 15 points to lead Hiland to a 56-18 rout of East Canton, while Bruce Troyer dropped 11 on the Trojans in Hiland’s 50-24 hammering of Newcomerstown.

The Hiland junior high girls were busy too. The seventh-grade team posted a stunning 49-7 win over Newcomerstown, fell to Garaway in a squeaker 28-26, then pasted East Canton 52-7. The eighth-grade girls beat the Trojans 53-11, lost to Garaway in another tight contest by a 21-18 count, then ripped East Canton 41-8.