But they were seeking something they hadn't gotten in their first two trips to Amish Country -- a win.

The Blazers were 0-2 in the Classic and were seeking a win in a game they knew would be a tough contest, squaring off against Holmes County's own West Holmes Lady Knights.

"We know it will be a hostile crowd, and that they'll have a lot of fans," said junior Angela Groves, Hathaway Brown's top player.  "But it's exciting to be able to give it our best and see how we stack up."

"It's a great chance for us to go up against some great competition in an electric atmosphere," added Barlow.  "This is something that we look forward to every year, and it's been an honor to be invited.  It's a first-class effort and we're happy to be a part of it."

Sunday, 1:30 PM -- Staff Arrive

The coaching staff came down early to watch some games and take in the experience of the Classic.  The team chose to stay behind, leaving later.

Sunday, 6:30 PM --Team Arrives

After checking in at The Inn at Walnut Creek, the team headed to the Reese Center where they took in the action, trying to get a feel of what their contest would be like.

Sunday, 9:00 PM -- Late Supper

The team left the game site and grabbed a late supper consisting of pizza.  They ate before retiring to their rooms, where many of them studied before calling it a night.

Monday, 7:45 AM -- Breakfast

It was a continental breakfast for the Blazers, who began their day as routinely as possible under the circumstances.  The team got together to eat before beginning their hectic, fast-paced day which came and went before they knew it.

Monday, 10:00 AM -- Scenic View

Coach Barlow has made it a priority to have his players engage in community service events throughout each season.

Already this season he has taken his Lady Blazers and visited the Cleveland Food Bank and has done some clinics for inner city kids, where Barlow said his players had as much fun as the kids did.

When he was approached by Tom Jenkins about visiting the residents at Scenic View in Millersburg, he quickly jumped at the chance.

"We believe that having the girls do community service is an important part of our program," said Barlow.  "It's great for the kids, it's great for the residents, and it's important for them to learn to give back to others.

"It's also a chance for us to give back something to the Classic."

The girls sat down with a number of residents, and the visit got off to a jovial start thanks in large part to resident Hazel Butler, who helped loosen things up early.  The residents and staff at Scenic View shared fresh homemade cookies and laughs with the Blazers.

The girls visited the residents in the cafeteria, then broke up into groups and made trips throughout the facility, chatting with residents and getting to know each other.

"It's fun to see the transition from when the teams arrive to when they are done," said Becky Snyder, director at Scenic View.  "They really develop a bond, and the residents look forward to them coming."

Monday, 11:45 AM -- Game Day Practice

So much to do and so little time.

From Scenic View, the team went directly to Chestnut Ridge Elementary, where teams ran through a light practice to stay sharp.

Barlow and his staff had their team participate in some shooting and dribbling drills, just to keep an edge on their game.

"Even though this is something unique for us here at the Classic, our routine doesn't change a whole lot," said Barlow.  "Normally we don't have a shoot-around on game days, but because we slept somewhere different than in our own homes, it is a little different, so we wanted to have the girls run through some light drills and shoot around a little bit."

Monday 1:30 PM -- Dining Out Sub Style

The team that eats together plays together.

It's probably not every day that the Sub Express located inside the Marathon Station in Walnut Creek has a bus load of athletes pull up for lunch, but that day was an exception.

The team piled out, got in line and ordered subs for lunch.

Monday 2:00 PM -- Quiet Time

After eating, the team headed back to The Inn at Walnut Creek for their downtime before the game.  Barlow and his staff head to the Reese Center, where they take in some of the action, chat with college scouts and do what the rest of the coaching staff do at the Classic.

Meanwhile, back at The Inn, the girls should have been busy doing nothing.  Relaxing, laying in bed watching TV, napping.

Except not this group.  They didn't have time to do nothing.  While the Classic is a wonderful opportunity for them, they had something coming up later this week which would ultimately be every bit if not more important than their game with West Holmes:  Exam finals.

"Hathaway Brown is a tremendous academic school," said Barlow.  "These girls aren't just athletes, but they are scholars first.  Most of these kids had been studying hard for finals before we came down, and most brought things to study."

During their down time, I had the opportunity to sit down with four of them and talk.  Senior Julie Lozon, Groves and freshmen Alexis Dobbs and Mylan Woods graciously volunteered to chat.

They were well-spoken young ladies at ease with reporters, and quick with a smile.

Groves, the team's top player who is at the top of her class and looking forward to possibly heading off to an Ivy League school upon her graduation, expressed her joy to be participating in her third Classic confrontation.  However, she knows, all too well, that studies need to happen.

"It's been a pretty crazy weekend," said Groves.  "I studied all day Sunday, then we got lost coming down here on the bus Sunday night.  Academics are important, and so is this game.  It's a thrill to be here, and you focus on playing, but you also try to set aside time to study any time you can."

For the two talented but youthful freshman, the chance to compete in the Classic is another step in their maturation process.

For both, it was obviously their first time playing in front of 1,500 people in the packed Reese Center.

"It's a completely different experience," said Dobbs.  "It's packed, and everyone is yelling and screaming.  I'm looking forward to it.  It's so much motivation to play and play well."

While they are rookies on the floor, both have experienced the Classic before.

"We've both been here to watch before," said Woods.  "But watching and playing are two very different things."

For Lozon, it was her fourth and final trip to the Classic.  However, the first three came while she was at Regina, and she did not factor into the games, watching as a reserve.

This year was different, as the guard played a key role in tackling the Knights.

While in her first year at Hathaway Brown, Lozon has quickly grown attached to her new teammates, and said that the chance to spend time together at the Classic was an added bonus which helped them mature as a team.

"We don't all live together in a close-knit community," said Lozon.  "so it's tough to have a lot of chances to get together aside from practice and games.  This is a chance to bond and to grow closer together as a team, which is a big part of getting better.  It's nice to just spend time together and sit and talk."

The girls agreed that the game, the atmosphere, the bonding, the experience that is the Classic all create a memorable event they will cherish.

"Everyone here has made us feel so important," said Dobbs.  "They've treated us like queens."

"This is a chance for us to see where we stand among the best teams in the state," chimed in Woods.  "We want people to take us seriously."

"It's a chance for redemption from last year's game," added Groves, who wanted to rid herself of memories of the 67-26 thrashing the Blazers took from Cincinnati Princeton last year at the Classic.

Monday, 5:00 PM  -- Pregame

The Blazers made the seven minute trek from Walnut Creek to the Reese Center.  They stuck to their normal game-night routine, checking out the Kenton Ridge / Cleveland Central Catholic game before disappearing into the locker room to prepare to take the stage in what they hoped would be a step to bigger and better things.

Monday, 6:45 PM -- Tip-off

Nerves on edge, confidence, knowledge and anxiety all rolled up into one big ball of emotion for the Blazers, as well as their opponent -- Holmes County's own West Holmes Knights, who had been on a bit of a roll themselves coming into the Classic.

The game began on a positive note for the Blazers as they darted out to a six point lead early in the second quarter.  However, despite the edge, Barlow couldn't help but notice a couple of alarming trends.  Missed free throws and poor shooting left the Blazers leading 22-19 at the break, but it felt like his team should have had a lead of a dozen or more.

West Holmes put on a fierce full-court zone press in the second half, and the pitfalls of the first half became glaring deficiencies in the second half.

Missed opportunities, unforced errors and those dreaded missed free throws haunted the Blazers.  West Holmes' scored the games final seven point in the last 30 seconds to blow open a close contest late, and the relentless zone press a main culprit in Hathaway Brown's eventual 50-38 loss to the Knights.

It was a nightmare -- not a 40-point loss nightmare like last year's confrontation with Princeton -- but a nightmare in letting a big game get away from them.  A game that was there for the winning.

The numbers were not attractive:  23 percent from the floor; 31 percent from the stripe; seven percent from the three-point arc.

It was a game to forget for the Blazers, whose 10-game winning streak came to a screeching halt, despite Groves' 18-point, 19-rebound effort.

"We were down 43-38, still right in the game, and missed a wide-open layup," lamented Barlow.  "Not that that was the deciding factor, but I figured then that this just wasn't our night.

"It would be easy for us to go in and lose our minds and beat ourselves up over this, but that's not going to help.  Maybe it was the crowd, maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe it was us winning 10 straight and getting complacent -- I think it had to do with West Holmes' pressure as much as anything.  They turned us over and we didn't convert when we had some great opportunities.

Monday, 8:45 PM -- Epilogue

The game was done, and it was a long drive back to the east side of Cleveland for the team.  But it was a learning experience for the young Blazers, which will serve them well down the road.

"We'll move on and learn from this," said Barlow.  "It was a great experience for our kids.  It will help us in the long run, and regardless of the outcome, this trip is something they'll remember."