Posen, Hillman advance in Rogers City district

March 8, 2018March 21, 2018 Editor

Posen's Sam Brunet (23) battles Onaway's Trevor Wregglesworth for a rebound in the first half of Wednesday's district semifinal game in Rogers City. (Photo by Richard Lamb) — Posen’s Sam Brunet (23) battles Onaway’s Trevor Wregglesworth for a rebound in the first half of Wednesday’s district semifinal game in Rogers City. (Photo by Richard Lamb)

The Posen Vikings battled back to defeat the Onaway Cardinals 61-57 in an exciting overtime game Wednesday. The Vikings move on to play Hillman, a 60-41 winner over Rogers City, in Friday’s boys’ district championship game at 7 p.m. at RCHS.

Rogers City's Luke Tulgestke dribbles around Hillman's Billy Kolcan as a big crowd watches the action. (Photo by Richard Lamb) — Rogers City’s Luke Tulgestke dribbles around Hillman’s Billy Kolcan as a big crowd watches the action. (Photo by Richard Lamb)

The Hurons gave Hillman all they wanted as they hung with the highly-rated Tigers on the strength of aggressive defense and six 3-point bombs. Rogers City led 12-6 late in the first quarter before Hillman rallied to lead 13-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The Hurons kept the game close in the second quarter after consecutive 3-pointers by J.D. Ellenberger made the score 20-18, Hillman with 3:12 left in the first half. A 3-pointer by freshman Nick Freel at 1:17 made the score 24-21 in favor of Hillman at halftime.

JD Ellenberger launches a shot over Hillman's Andrew Funk in the district semifinals. (Photo by Richard Lamb)

pg 768w, https://piadvance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1118-jd.jpg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 264px) 100vw, 264px" /> JD Ellenberger launches a shot over Hillman’s Andrew Funk in the district semifinals. (Photo by Richard Lamb)

Rogers City managed just six points on two 3-pointers, in the third quarter. Ellenberger nailed this third triple at the five minute mark and Luke Tulgestke drained a shot with 2:32 left in the frame to cut the lead to 30-27. But an 8-0 rally over the next 3 minutes of playing time allowed Hillman to squash the host team’s chanced of pulling off a major upset.

Ellenberger paced the scoring attack with 13 points while Freel added 10.