Valiant effort from Vikings at Breslin

Posen’s basketball season came to an end at the Class D semifinals last Thursday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The Vikings finished a remarkable season at 25-1 after losing to two-time defending champion Detroit Rogers Academy (DR), 55-45, which went on and ended Bellaire’s unbeaten dream season two days later for its third straight title. Before the Vikings, who were making their first semifinal appearance ever, could settle into their game plan, DR was on top 7-0.

“I know that Posen had a real successful season…so I knew we wanted to get out of the gate strong,” said DR coach Steve Hall. “That was one of our primary goals.” Led by their all-state guards Brian Watkins and Jalon Perryman, the Rangers took control of the game in the first minute. Watkins fired a three, which was followed by a steal and a dunk by Perryman, the two-time Class D Player of the Year.

“I GUESS YOU really can’t calculate speed until you face it,” said Posen coach Ron Misiak. Misiak called timeout to get his crew on track. That was the first time an opponent had jumped out to a quick lead on the district and regional champs. “Coach told us to settle down,” said senior all-stater Matt Ponik. “The players said we needed to dig down and play defense. Once we started doing that, we started to keep up with them.”

Ponik led the charge with a field goal on a goal tending call. After DR answered with a bucket, the Vikings got rolling with senior center Aaron Hincka getting the first of his nine rebounds. He cleaned the glass and put the points up and in. It looked like the Rangers, who were making their fifth straight appearance in the finals, were going to run away with the contest when Perryman ripped the net for a three at the 5:04 mark of the first quarter for a 12-4 DR lead. The Vikings charged back. Aaron Hincka scored the next two baskets to trim the lead to four, and assisted on a Ponik layup, which got the Vikes within two, 12-10. “Every time we came back they came back and did their job and held off the rush,” said Misiak. “This is the best team we’ve played all year.”

AFTER THE Vikes got to within two, the rush was on, as the Rangers went on to score 10 unanswered points late in the first quarter and during the early minutes of the second. The DR lead was 23-10. Posen came back with a three from Ponik at the 5:19 mark of the second, and got layups from Aaron Hincka and James Sobek to cut the lead to eight, 25-17. Junior Richie Kroll dribbled the ball across the center line, continued into the lane and in for the layup and the points, and Posen trailed by only six, with 2:32 left before halftime. It surprised everybody at the Breslin except for the folks who know how Posen can play. DR ended the half with points from Rodney Legion, and four more from Watkins, for a 6-0 run, and a 31-19 Ranger lead at the break. “We’ve been a team of runs this year,” said Hall. “We’ve had several games where we’ve had big leads and we kind of get content, so we have placed an emphasis on not letting that happen and we were able to counter their runs.”

PONIK GOT the lead back to under double digits with a three pointer to start the second half, 31-22, but the Vikes started misfiring from the free throw line. They missed nine-of-14 in the second half, including three straight, right after Ponik’s trey. Hincka came on strong with six of the Vikings next eight points, but the Ranger

s held tough. Posen’s last shot came late in the third quarter after Hincka cut it to eight, 39-31. The fans started chanting and getting back into the game when Sobek was fouled on a three point try in the corner, but made only one of three to cut the Rangers’ advantage to the lowest lead of the second half at seven.

“Down the stretch when we missed seven or eight free throws, that really hurt us,” said Misiak. “Tired hands and tired feet from chasing those quick men out there. A lot of shots were just a little bit short. You can’t miss that many against a great team.”

PERRYMAN SPARKED a 6-0 run with a jumper, and the lead for the eventual state champs would get no lower than eight the rest of the way. The players who have been a part of the Vikings the entire season were all given a chance to get out on the floor before the final buzzer sounded. The fans from Posen, Rogers City, Alpena, Hale, and Fairview who attended the game a tearful standing ovation as the players congratulated Detroit Rogers in front of the scoring table Aaron Hincka led Posen with 16 points and broke Mike Schellie’s rebound record of 837. Hincka now holds the mark at 843. Ponik finished his all-state season with 15 points. Watkins had 20 points, while Perryman ended with 15.