Vikings claim district title; play in RC regional Tuesday
by Richard Lamb–Advance Editor
A hot start and an epic individual performance powered the Vikings to a 67-54 district championship win over host Inland Lakes last Friday. With a 12-0 start and 40 points from senior forward Makayla Kamyszek leading the way, Posen shattered Inland Lakes hopes to claim a title on its home court.
“Right from the opening tip we got off to a good start. They made a couple of runs, like we knew they would, but we hung in there with a double-digit lead and that was huge,” said an elated coach Karl Momrik after the game. Momrik, who picked up his 250th career coaching win in the season’s last regular season game last week, saw an outstanding performance turned in by his squad.
Most notably, Kamyszek’s steady performance with 20 points in the first half and 20 in the second half to go along with 16 assists by point guard Faith Cousins were big factors in the win. Kamyszek led the team with 16 rebounds and Ella Szatkowski added 12 rebounds and six points for Posen.
Kamyszek’s 18th point of the night came at the free-throw line with 2:15 left in the half. It gave her 1,000 on her career and gave Posen a 26-17 lead at that point.
The half closed with a 3-pointer from the right wing from Elizabeth Romel, who had nine points in the game. That gave Posen a 31-19 halftime lead. Momrik credited her for defensive effort on Inland Lakes’ big scorer, Natalie Wandrie, by denying her the ball all night.
Momrik also praised the defensive efforts of Abi Schellie and Ava Wesner on keeping the other scoring threats off the boards.
“Defensively, it was a great all-around effort,” Momrik said.
Inland Lakes would not go quietly in the third quarter, as 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 33-27 three minutes into the second half. Szatkowski answered with a bucket, off a nice pass from Cousins.
Then Posen scored the last 10 points of the third quarter with Wesner starting the run and Kamyszek getting the last eight on shots right next to the basket.
Inland Lakes trailed 49-29 after two straight baskets from Kamyszek to start the fourth quarter. Then a 7-0 Inland Lakes’ run cut the lead to 49-36 before the teams traded hoops the rest of the way.
Posen connected on 18-of-26 from the free-throw line. Kamyszek made her first 10 attempts from the line, finally missing a pair with 1:19 left in the game, bringing a smile from her in an otherwise perfect performance.
Posen plays Harbor Light Christian Academy in Rogers City Tuesday. The first regional contest pits Engadine vs. Pickford in the 5:30 p.m. contest.
