Sixth rated Vikings looking for win No. 10
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
Near the halfway mark of the regular season, the Posen boys? basketball team still has a perfect record. The Vikings are 9-0 with a key conference tilt tonight with Hillman on the home floor. The boys remain on top of the North Star League standings with a 5-0 record and are ranked sixth in the Class D Associated Press basketball rankings. The Vikings added to their record with wins against Atlanta (68-35, Monday), Brimley (73-55, Saturday) and Hale (75-35, Jan. 6). Coming out of the break with a huge win over defending league champ, Hale, provided a great start to the New Year.
?We got a good jump on Hale right off the get go,? said head coach Steve Hentkowski. Jerome Ciarkowski topped the scoring column with 21 points. The Vikes hadn?t defeated Hale in a few seasons, so there was an added level of satisfaction. ?We played a pretty good game,? said Hentkowski. Posen remained at home for a unique Saturday afternoon doubleheader against Brimley. The varsity squads played back-to-back games in the new gym, while the junior varsity teams were in action at the same time in the old gym.
THE VARSITY boys went on an 11-0 run to open the contest, and never gave up the lead. Freshman Nick Hincka sank a couple of open shots, and fed captain Shane Hentkowski a pass and a field goal as part of a 15-1 start. The Bays fought back with a 9-2 run to close out the first quarter. The score was 17-10. The second quarter turned into an impressive free-throw shooting exhibition from both clubs. David Kerr and Hentkowski combined to shoot eight straight free throws, before the first free throw was missed. Kerr came back with another pair before halftime. Brimley made all six of their tries. The score at the break was 33-23. Hincka hit a pair of threes
?We were missing some of the energy,? said Hentkowski. ?I think it has a lot to do with kids sleeping in late on a Saturday. A Saturday afternoon game is a little out of the ordinary. I?m happy with the way the guys have been playing overall.? Hentkowski said the Vikings were ?a little lazy with the ball,? committing 15 turnovers. Hentkowski ended the game with 15, Hincka added 12 and Ciarkowski put in 10. Tyler Kuffel had a career-high 13 points and seven rebounds in a dominant performance at Atlanta.
The Vikings led 18-6 after one and 35-15 after two. Kerr led all scorers with 18 and eight rebounds. Hentkowski added 15 and 10 boards. Other rebounding stats follow: Ciarkowski eight, Travis Hirschman seven, Zach Idalski five. ?The defense shut everything down,? said Hentkowski. The junior varsity (1-3, 4-4) suffered its third, one-point league loss against Hale, 38-37. Lucas Litwinski had 10, while Martin Mulka put in eight. The squad lost to Brimley, 41-32. Litwinski had 17. Brandon Dietz had a dozen.