A tale of two halves, as Posen lets regional semifinal win get away from them

After playing in a game that set a new state record for the most points scored by two teams in a girls basketball game, Posen (18-5) was just begging for points down the stretch against Harbor Light Christian (17-5) in the Class D regional semifinal played at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. It was the Vikings? third trip to the regional tournament in as many years, and the girls were looking to take that next step. Two years ago, they were blown out by Rapid River. Last year, the players were matched up against Rapid River again and put up a respectable fight before dropping the contest. Monday night, victory was theirs for the taking, but the dream of winning a regional championship will have to wait until next year for a squad loaded with returning juniors.

The Vikings let an early third quarter lead slip away, as Harbor Light Christian wiped out a 15-point deficit. Junior Mary Calhoun added to her point total of 15 with a free throw that put the Vikes up 26-11. Both schools did a lot of running back and forth across the floor in the first half of the third quarter, before Harbor took off on an 18-0 run. Harbor Light got hot offense and plugged up the inside on defense, while Posen turned the ball over and went stone cold from the field.

The Vikings scored only four points during the last quarter and a half. Compare that to the 54 they put on the board in the final quarter and a half in the record scoring district final against Johannesburg-Lewiston. The 186 combined points scored by Posen and Johannesburg-Lewiston broke the previous record of 183 points set in 1993 in a four-overtime game.

?WE CELEBRATED two quarters too early,? said Posen coach Tom Schellie, who is 6-3 in the tournament the last three years. ?I thought we played a great first half, but came out flat in the second half. ?I thought we outrebounded them, we outhustled them, and totally outplayed them in the first half. In the second half, they outrebounded us, they outhustled us, and they got hot beyond the arc.? After the Swordsmen went up 5-2, the Vikings went on a 17-2 run. Calhoun scored 12 of the 17 points as Posen built a 12-point lead with 4:02 left in the second quarter. Junior Michelle Mulka?s three-pointer upped the lead to 24-9. It wasn?t until the 2:26 mark of the second quarter that Harbor Light finally broke into double digits. They would end up with only 11 against the Posen defense in the first half.

The lead was 15 after Calhoun made a free throw, but midway through the third, the Swordsmen surged back, getting three, three-pointers in the 18-0 run. Calhoun ended the streak with a shot over two defenders to trim a five-point Harbor Light lead to three, 36-33, but could only score two more points the rest of the way.

?ONCE THEY got the lead, it seemed like someone pulled the plug on us and it was over. It?s a very disappointing loss; it?s like we gave up in the second half,? said Schellie. ?Give Harbor Light a lot of credit; they played a great second half.? Harbor Light coach Clark Hewitt thought that there might not be enough time for a comeback with his club down 29-15 with 4:18 left.

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new we had to chip away at that lead,? said Hewitt. ?I knew we couldn?t do it all at one time.? Harbor Light advanced to play Engadine, who defeated Cedarville in the other regional semifinal game played earlier in the night. Calhoun was the only Viking in double digits with 18 points. She broke another school record with her 21 points last Friday. Mary now is the record holder for most points in a season with 430, eclipsing the record held by Lisa Wekwert, who had 410. Harbor Light center Jessica Hass finished with 16, while Kaylee Hewitt had a dozen. Both Harbor Light players combined for 22 in the second half.

Junior Roxann Hincka had seven points and six rebounds, while junior Jenny Ciarkowski had eight rebounds, two steals, two assists and two blocked shots.