Posen puts away De Tour with 15-0 third quarter run
Against a De Tour Raider squad that just wouldn?t quit, the Posen basketball team used a 15-0 run to end a two game losing streak, with a 64-53 win Tuesday on the home floor. The Vikings climbed their way back to 6-6 and play next Friday at Arenac Eastern who they handled easily in their first matchup in early January. De Tour traveled more than two hours for the game, and made the most of it, keeping the game tied at 29 at halftime.
The Vikings were in control in the early minutes of the third quarter, taking a four-point lead a couple of times, but junior guard Luke Hentkowski caught fire, scoring eight of his 10 points in the third quarter to spark the run. ?It?s our first good run in the third quarter since the Mio game,? said coach Ron Misiak. ?We?ve played flat in third quarters, but it was good to reverse it.?
?They (De Tour) are scrappy,? said Misiak. ?They gave Hillman trouble.? De Tour lost to Hillman by deficits of one and nine.
Posen lost both of its games to Hillman, with the last defeat against the Tigers coming Friday, 59-51. The other loss in the mini-losing streak for Posen was against Rogers City.
DURING THE halftime break, Misiak told his players to come out and play aggressively, and they did. Senior Pat Bronikowski started the scoring in the opening seconds of the third. Hentkowski dropped in a layup for an early four-point lead. The Raiders came back and trimmed the lead to two, and the game would continue to go back and forth that way in the opening minutes of the quarter. Senior Josh Konieczny came away with a clean steal and went in for an uncontested layup, but De Tour again countered with two points, and trailed, 37-35. That?s when Posen broke the game wide open.
Sophomore Matt Ponik started the run with a free throw and a three-pointer. Hentkowski upped the run to 6-0, and then sophomore big man Aaron Hincka provided the highlight of the game. A De Tour player attempted a jumper in the paint in front of Hincka, who came up with a loud, clean block.
The ball ended up in the hands of junior Ron Kroll who rewarded Hincka by feeding him the ball back on the fast break. Hincka went in for the power layup, to up the run to 8-0, and a 10-point Viking lead. Hentkowski scored back-to-back buckets and junior Tom Woloszyk got in the act with a three pointer, and the game-clinching run was complete. The lead for Posen was 52-35 with 1:42 left in the third quarter. Ponik had 14 points and seven rebounds. Hincka had 11 points
IT WAS a Posen sweep against De Tour as the junior varsity won its third game of the season, 53-45. The JV, just as the varsity did, opened things up in the second half after the score was tied at 14 at the break. Freshman Matt Szczerowski led the Vikes with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Nick Goupell had 15 points. Junior Josh Rose had 12 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore James Sobek had 10 points. The Vikings record is 3-9. Members of the coaching staff said it was the best game this season.
