Lady Vikings take district trophy over Hillman

March 7, 2020March 20, 2020 Editor

The Lady Vikings took a 47-43 win over Hillman to claim the district title. (Photos by Richard Lamb)

Posen trailed only once in an exciting 47-43 win over Hillman to claim the district basketball trophy last Friday in Hillman. Hillman dropped in a basket after winning the opening tip, but Posen stormed back for the next 12 points. The Vikings dominated the offensive boards early with Madison Menzel snaring a rebound and putting in a shot and Makayla Kamyszek nailing two shots after offensive rebounds. A 3-pointer by Riley Krajniak and her layup, after a nice pass from Kamyszek, ended the run.

Madison Menzel makes a basket in the district championship game.

Posen’s box-and-one defense, with Lizzie Romel glued to Hillman’s high-scoring guard Bailey Schook, seemed to do the job against the Tigers. Schook scored two points and Melanie Morrison added four as Posen led 14-6 after the first quarter.

Riley Krajniak is shadowed by Bailey Schook.

Feeding off the excitement of their cheering sections, both teams used tight defense to limit the scoring of each other. Abi Schellie’s free throw with 4:48 gave the Vikings a 17-8 lead and came nearly three minutes after their previous score.

But a flourish of scoring over the last 2:36 gave the Lady Vikings a 27-15 lead as halftime. Krajniak nailed 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the court, the second coming after an offensive rebound and kickout by Romel. Krajniak’s free throw and a short jumper by Elena Kalbitzer ended the run.

Hillman, who defeated Posen the last time they played in Hillman during the regular season, went on a 12-1 run over a four-minute span to cut the Posen lead to 33-31 with one minute left in the third quarter.

Riley Krajniak's constant hustle is on display in this drive to the basket. — Riley Krajniak’s constant hustle is on display in this drive to the basket.

The Tigers continued cutting into the lead in the fourth quarter. Schook made a steal, put up an impossible driving bank shot, made the shot and was fouled and then hit the free throw. That cut the lead to 43-40 with 1:25 left in the fourth quarter.

Lizzie Romel find delivers two points for the Vikings.

The clincher for Posen came on a quick press-break pass sequence from Krajniak to Kamyszek to Romel under the basket for a 46-41 lead.

Krajniak led the team in scoring with 13 points, Kamyszek had 11 points and Romel scored 10. Morrison led Hillman with 15 points while Schook added 14.

Coach Karl Momrik celebrated with his team and the legion of fans who cheered their team on to a win in enemy territory. The team has just two seniors in Krajniak and Kalbitzer, an exchange student from Germany.

“It’s been a hard team to coach, because we have to go over a lot of things over and over. But those kids listen and they just kept at it and kept their focus. It is outstanding for Posen basketball for the future. To have eight of these kids coming back next year is outstanding,” Momrik said.

Krajniak, the point guard and captain proudly held the trophy after the game.

“It is honestly the greatest feeling to have because Hillman is a tough place to play in and we really wanted it tonight. Coach Karl asked us how much we wanted it and tonight it showed that we wanted this more,” Krajniak said.

Posen now faces St. Ignace in the Pellston regional Tuesday at 5:30. The winner plays the winner of the second game of the night with Engadine vs. Mackinaw City.