News Photo by James Andersen Hillman’s Bailey Schook (12) dribbles past Onaway’s Malaurie McLean during the first half of a district girls basketball game on Wednesday at Hillman High School.

HILLMAN — When tournament time comes around, it doesn’t matter whether you win going away or win ugly. All that matters is that you find a way to win.

The Hillman girls basketball team found a way on Wednesday.

Angelina Hunt scored on a putback with 1:49 remaining and the Tigers went 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 31 seconds to triumph over Onaway, 42-36, in a Division 4 district semifinal at Hillman High School.

The win advances Hillman (15-5) to Friday’s district title game where the Tigers have a chance to win their third district title in four years. They play Posen at 7 p.m.

In a game plagued by fouls and a lot of missed free throws, Hillman overcame every obstacle thrown its way. The Tigers fell into early foul trouble and trailed by as many as six early in the fourth quarter.

But through it all, the Tigers made just enough shots to keep things close and when opportunity knocked, the Tigers pounced.

“That was great. Perseverance was awesome. We played played all four quarters hard,” Hillman coach Jenny Taratuta said. “Onaway’s an awesome team. They push you to the limits and we kept pushing right back. That’s what my team does best. They know how to push back and they don’t give up.”

A three-pointer from Davi Stewart tied the game 34-34 with 3:15 left and Hillman tied the game again at 35 less than a minute later. Ultimately it was Hunt, who made the key shot for the Tigers, putting the ball up again after a miss from Melanie Morrison.

Bailey Schook followed up with a free throw with 31 seconds left, giving Hillman a 38-35 lead. Onaway cut it to two a few seconds later, but with time running short the Cardinals were forced to foul and Hillman made the most of its chances as Emma Libby and Schook knocked down two shots each in the final 17 seconds.

“My stars were the ones getting in (foul) trouble, so my other ones had to step up into that role and they did phenomenal,” Taratuta said.

Hillman was 11-of-21 from the charity stripe for the game while Onaway was 12-for-31.

In a contest that saw nearly 50 fouls called, Hillman ran into trouble early with eight in the first quarter alone. Among those were two each to three different starters, forcing Taratuta to change things up earlier than anticipated.

“We definitely had some foul trouble, so we had to work through that,” Taratuta said. “The girls who were in those foul troubles played smart, but they still played aggressively and I was impressed.”

Schook led Hillman with 13 points and Morrison added eight. Nicole Larson paced Onaway with 10 points and Breya Domke had nine.

Onaway got out to an 11-4 lead to start things off, taking advantage of some early free throw chances, but Hillman kept it close and trailed 11-8 after one quarter.

The second quarter saw four different lead changes but Onaway ultimately went into halftime with a 15-14 lead.

Hillman kept it close early in the third quarter, but Onaway was able to find success from the field and built a six-point lead after three quarters, 28-22.

Onaway led 30-24 early in the fourth quarter, but it marked the last stand for the Cardinals, who saw their lead erode and eventually vanish by the end of the period. Schook cut the lead to four with a baseline floater with 5:57 left and Allyson Brown sank a free throw a short time later to make it 30-27.

The Cardinals got one last burst of momentum to take a 33-27 lead, but Brown and Morrison each made a bucket before Stewart drilled a triple from the top of the key to tie the game. Onaway led just once more after that as a free throw from Jessica Jones and Hunt’s shot put Hillman ahead for good.

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BOX SCORE: Field Goals Made/Free Throws Made/Free Throws Attempted/Total Points

HILLMAN (42): A. Hunt 2 0-2 4; D. Stewart 1 0-1 3; B. Schook 5 3-8 13; E. Libby 0 2-2 2; J. Jones 0 3-4 3; J. Taratuta 3 0-0 6; M. Morrison 3 2-2 8; A. Brown 1 1-2 3.

ONAWAY (36): M. McLean 1 2-2 4; N. Larson 4 2-14 10; J. Chaskey 2 4-5 8; B. Domke 2 1-2 9; M. Crull 0 1-2 1; A. Benson 0 1-2 1; S. Woiderski 1 1-2 3; M. Van 0 0-2 0.