Vikes reverse record, gear up for districts at Joburg
A successful 2003 regular-season campaign for the Posen girls? basketball team came to a close with a complete reversal from 2002 when the Vikings finished 6-14.
With a 46-41 win over Fairview Tuesday, Posen finished the season 14-6, and now awaits the start of the district tournament at Johannesburg-Lewiston High School.
The Vikings take on Hillman, whom they swept during the regular season, at 7 p.m. The other schools at the tournament are Atlanta and the host team.
A field goal by freshman Mary Calhoun, a line drive shot that just snuck over the rim, and a free throw by junior Katie Lewandowski held off a fourth quarter scoring spurt by Fairview, who trimmed a 15-point lead to four.
?Good defense, that?s what won us the game,? said coach Tom Schellie. ?The ball wasn?t falling into the hoop for a lot of girls, but we played tough defense. People were getting aggressive. Defense was the key. We made some free throws down the stretch to seal up the game for us.?
As the old sports cliche goes, scoring goes into slumps, defense does not. The Viking defense, as during the regular season, will be the key ingredient to capturing a district title and Schellie doesn?t expect his girls to hold back on Tuesday.
?The defense is always there and the hustle is always there,? said Schellie.
AFTER POSEN closed the first quarter on top, 15-8, the defense cranked it up a notch or two in the second quarter as the Eagles failed to score for more than four minutes.
With 3:44 left in the first half, Fairview converted a three-point play on a field goal and a free throw, and was still in it, but Posen then went on a 7-1 run.
Kendra Krajniak got it started with a free throw, followed by a baseline jumper and a free throw from Michelle Bednarski, and then there was a pretty play from a pair of freshmen.
Calhoun reached high for a pass from Roxann Hincka, and just had enough time to put the ball up and in. The score was 25-13.
The Eagles countered with a bucket, but the crowd erupted when fan favorite Megan Latz, who scores most of her points under the basket, knocked a three pointer off the glass. That made the score 28-15 at halftime.
Posen took its largest lead of the game when Calhoun finished an impressive fast break with the best pass of the night to Bednarski who fluidily went in for the layup to give her team a 38-23 lead going into the final quarter.
FAIRVIEW CHIPPED away at the Viking advantage throughout the fourth quarter, but it?s the good teams that find ways to win, even when the shots are not falling.
The Eagles converted a three pointer and a quick field goal with less than a minute to play, and the score was 45-41 with 12.8 seconds left.
Lewandowski went to the foul line and made one of two to put the final touches on the victory.
Latz led the Vikings with 10 points, while Bednarski had nine. Krajniak had eight in the game.
Lewandowski scored four of her 10 field goals in the foruth quarter of a 67-54 defeat of Arenac Eastern last Thursday, to finish with a game-high 20 points.
Calhoun and Bednarski both finished with 11. Bednar
THE JV HAD a winning week, finishing 16-4, and with a core group of players expected to return next season, that record could improve in 2004.
The Vikings are rich in basketball talent from the seniors to the freshmen, so the future looks bright for basketball success.
The Vikings were 37-25 winners over Fairview Tuesday. Kim Wekwert was the leading scorer with 12, while Jenny Ciarkowski had seven.
Brittany Styma paced the attack, as the Vikings blasted Arenac 62-37, last Thursday. Ciarkowski scored eight points and Michelle Mulka had seven.