Posen wins second straight at Mio

The Posen Vikings (2-0, 2-0) took a giant step toward the goal of becoming the first boys basketball team in school history to post a perfect 14-0 record in the North Star League with a 53-46 win Tuesday at Mio. It was the second year in a row the Vikings let a Mio third quarter double-digit lead slip away from them, but this time around, Posen made the big plays down the stretch to put the contest in the win column. Last December in Posen, the Vikings had a 17-point lead and looked to be on cruise control until the Bolts made their comeback.

The Posen lead Tuesday was 11 early in the third quarter when Mio staged its comeback and took the lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Vikes kept answering. An emotionally drained coach Ron Misiak, who has now guided the Vikings to back-to-back wins against their basketball rivals, knows a win against Mio is never easy.

“OUR GAME plan was to get a lead, but we knew they were going to run spurts at us,” said Misiak. “Mio always does. They are quick. If one or two of their players gets hot from outside, you know you are going to be in trouble, so you try and get that lead and when they have that spurt, stop it, and get the game under control.” Underclassmen Brandon Hentkowski and Jordan Hincka made some clutch free throws, along with the all-state upperclassmen Aaron Hincka and Matt Ponik. “We played fairly well for this early in the season,” said Misiak. “We gave up some easy stuff now and then, but we came up with the big play when we needed it.” Aaron Hincka, who had 16 points and a game-high 22 rebounds, said Posen had a lot of turnovers, “but we came back as a team and won it.”

The Vikings built an early lead with an 8-0 run to close out the first quarter, after the T-Bolts led by one, 7-6. The score after one quarter was 14-7. Mio stepped up the defensive pressure and shut out Posen for six minutes of the second. The drought ended on a field goal by Jordan Hincka to make the score 20-13, Posen.

AARON HINCKA came back with two free throws to give the Vikes their largest lead of the game at nine, 22-13, heading into the break. Mio scored first in the third, but Posen answered with a layup from Matt Szczerowski and a pretty inbound play to Ponik and the Vikings had an 11-point advantage. That’s when the Bolts went on one of their scoring spurts. They shot three three-pointers and had an 11-2 run, bringing a rather subdued crowd to life. Mio was in dangerous striking distance, down by two, 30-28. Junior Steven Sidebottom scored the first two buckets of the fourth quarter and the Thunderbolts had a one-point lead. Posen kept its cool. Ponik made two free throws to get the lead back, followed by a basket on the other end at the 6:11 mark, but it would be the last time Mio would have more points on its side of the scoreboard. Ponik, who had a game-high 19 points, hit two more free throws and the lead was 38-37.

PAST THE HALFWAY mark of the fourth quarter, the schools played to a stalemate, but Ponik, who was left open for just a moment, put the Vikes up by four with a three-pointer. On the other end, the Thunderbolts set up Sidebottom in the corner for a three-pointer, but he missed the shot and the Vikings snagged the rebound. Hentkowski went to the line and made one of two shots with 29.9 seconds left. With less than a minute to play, Mio sent up a flurry of shots but couldn’t score. Eventually Aaron Hincka came down with the rebound and made two free throws. Game over.

“We wanted to run and wear them out early on and most of the whole game, to tire them out,” said Mio coach Dennis Kann. “We had them tired

in the fourth quarter, but size does make a difference on the rebounding.” The next game between these two conference heavyweights is February 1 in Posen. The next game for the Vikings is tomorrow on the home floor hosting Hillman. Tuesday they travel to Fairview.

After having its first game cancelled, Posen played its first contest of the year at Au Gres last Friday and took an easy 62-34 win. Aaron Hincka scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter. The Vikings outscored the Wolverines 22-7 in the second quarter. Ponik wasn’t far behind with 21 points. Matt Szczerowski put in eight.

GARY BISSON’S junior varsity team is off to a perfect start, much on the strength of their rebounding. The JV players collected 110 rebounds in opening-season wins against Au Gres, 48-45, and Mio, 56-42. Matt Styma had a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds against Mio, while Derek King had eight points and 10 rebounds. Paul Kroll scored 12 points and cleaned the glass 10 times against Au Gres.

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