SPORTS COLUMN: On the tournament trail, Pt. 2, by Peter Jakey
…continued from last week. On the tournament trail in Hillman.
The semifinal contest between the host Hillman Tigers and the visiting Posen Vikings was a classic example of what March Madness is all about: a Monday evening, in a full gym, with the crowds from each school loudly cheering every basket.
I believe the Tigers knew they would have their work cut out for them against the 12-8 Vikings, even though they had defeated Posen twice during the regular season.
The defense sparked Posen to a 13-point second quarter lead, and the ?Hillman Rowdies,? wearing their psychedelic shirts and slippers, and standing the entire contest, were stunned. ?Come on guys,? pleaded some of the fans in the section when the Tigers were down.
POSEN PLAYED incredibly poised in the second quarter, especially when not many of the players have ever played in front of a crowd that big, making that much noise. The Vikes ran the plays and converted the points in the first half and everyone played well.
But as the time ticked off the clock, the intensity barometer was turned up a couple of notches. I could tell how bad both schools wanted to win in some of the pictures that were developed following the game. Players who didn?t have the ball were caught in midair, with their hands up, trying to block passes or shots.
And standing behind the basket, I made it through the regular season without even a chance of getting hit by a ball. Once in a while, a ball would harmlessly bounce at my feet, but in Monday?s single-elimination game, I had one ball fired hard against the wall to my left and another to my right.
AND IF I hadn?t been standing in the right place, Luke Basel, who played linebacker for the Hillman football team, would have pancaked me into the wall trying to stop junior Ron Kroll from going in for an uncontested layup. It was close. I know people love seeing photographers getting run over. That would have brought a cheer from some of my fans, and non-fans. I have to give the fans from Posen a lot of credit. I?m sure some of the players felt quite comfortable with the cheers they were getting from the red and white faithful who made the trip. They made plenty of noise, and at one point the ?P-H-S? chant drowned out the nervous Hillman fans.
THE DOWNSIDE of Monday?s game was it was the last for seniors Josh Konieczny, Jeremy Chojnacki, Tom Romel, and Pat Bronikowski. There is no way they received nearly as much playing time as they wanted, but they played unique roles, and were there until the final game. They didn?t throw in the towel, which has to be applauded.
A win Monday would have been a bonus for a group of young basketball players who received a wealth of experience in a pressure-filled contest. It should help them next year, when the tournament trail isn?t expected to be as short.
?They are going to be one of the North Star League teams to reckon with next year,? said Hillman coach Ed LaFramboise.
…ATLANTA ? The tournament trail took me down M-65 toward Atlanta early Saturday morning. I was concerned about the trip when I spilled coffee on myself going over where the train tracks used to be on the south side of Posen. I was wondering if it was a sign of things to come. A bump in the road. A spilled chance to win. I was thinking how it could apply to the volleyball district game I was heading to. Thinking about it later, it didn?t. Continuing on my journey I was in the mood for talk radio, so I listened to National Public Radio and heard a report on a burlesque museum in California. I heard someone say burlesque is a ?lost art.? I couldn?t help but chuckle.
I WAS NERVOUS and wanted to get to Atlanta on time, because it was the first tournament contest I was to cover for the winter season. I noticed I had left my tape recorder button on ?play? and I also opened the back of my camera that had film in it. I would later learn, thankfully, it didn?t ruin any of the film. But I was a little nervous. I think some of the players, maybe some of the inexperienced starters, were nervous against Atlanta in the first game.
9:36 a.m. ? The first play went to Posen but the Vikes lost the serve to the Huskies who scored their first four points on aces.
9:43 a.m. ? Viking coach Elena Meharg call timeout with the Huskies leading 7-0. ?1-2-3, together,? the players chanted in the huddle before taking the court again.
9:46 ? Ten minutes in and senior Tonya Comfort blasted a kill for a 13-0 lead for Atlanta. 9:48 a.m. ? Game over.
IT WAS a lost game, but the battle was far from over. Meharg said she made some adjustments for the second game but I believe the bigger story was the play of Julie Lewandowski and Shannon Ciarkowski. The others played well, but Lewandowski and Ciarkowski playe
If you could only have seen the smile on Julie?s face standing on the serving line, awaiting game three. I wrote in my notes: ?She looked like a little girl who just got what she wanted for Christmas.? The Vikings should be proud they gave Atlanta a run for its money, which I don?t believe the Huskies expected.
I noticed several times late in game three when two players from Atlanta were trying to ease the pressure of the contest. They looked at each other, took deep breaths, with their fingers extended out at their side, then exhaled.
The pressure was on, and the Vikings gave it everything they could, making the Saturday morning trip down the tournament trail a worthwhile one. Next stop for me on the tournament trail is the wresting finals in Auburn Hills.