Vikings regional run ends against Gaylord St. Mary
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
History will have to wait, as the amazing 22-2 season of the Viking girls? basketball team came to a sudden end in the Class D regional tournament Tuesday in Pellston. During the 35 years of girls? basketball in Posen, there have been some talented players who have donned the school colors, but no team has yet to earn the distinction of becoming the first to claim a regional title. This year?s squad, laden with experienced seniors and up and coming underclassmen, had all the pieces, but unfortunately, they didn?t have everything go their way against Gaylord St. Mary (GSM) and fell, 60-46.
The Vikings couldn?t overcome a scoring drought during a five minute stretch of the second quarter when the Snowbirds finished a 15-0 run. ?You can?t afford to have bad runs like that against a good team,? said head coach Karl Momrik. ?Gaylord St. Mary played so well in that stretch, and made their free throws all night, and made it hard to come back.? When the dust settled, the Vikes found themselves down by a dozen (23-11) with 3:24 left in the second.
POSEN HAD the early lead, as the two schools ranked fourth in Class D for most of the season, looked to get something going offensively. Back-to-back field goals from Anna Couture put the Vikings up 8-5, and a free throw from Korynn Hincka made it 9-5. With the score 11-8, GSM fed off of the final four seconds of the first quarter when Karli Jacob fired in a three. Carolyn Burzynski stole the inbound pass and put up the points for a quick five-points and a 13-11 Snowbird lead after one.
GSM built on it at the start of the second, while the Posen offense spun its wheels. With the Snowbirds up by 23-11, the teams matched baskets the rest of the quarter; however, Christina Smith?s three as the GSM fans counted down the final seconds of the first half was like a gut punch heading into the halftime break with the score 32-16. Momrik?s squad used the time to regroup and came out in the third with a heighten level of intensity and full-court pressure defense.
ASHLEY MEYERS and Hincka started the second half scoring and quickly cut the deficit to 12 (32-20), before GSM coach Kevin Foster called timeout. Lindsey Bartz would score the next five Viking points, including a nice move in the paint for an easy open shot in the paint to get it into single digits, 34-25. GSM found the three-point touch when they needed it most. Jacob hit one to get it back to double figures (37-25). That followed by another field goal from Bartz and a Hincka bucket to get it all the way down to eight, 37-29, but Jacob came back with another basket. Then, at the start of the fourth, Smith fired in a comeback crushing three to get the Snowbirds?s lead back up to 13.
That was followed by a pair of free throws by Kari Borowiak and a three-point play by Jacob to put the Snowbirds back in control with an 18-point lead. They made 9 of 10 free throws to close out the contest. POSEN?S ONLY losses during the amazing 2010-11 season were against the two teams that will be competing for a regional title tonight in Pellston, GSM and Brimley. ?It looked like we might make a run in the second half, but it wasn?t meant to be,? said Momrik. ?We couldn?t be more proud of these kids. What they accomplished can?t be taken away. I don?t know too many teams with 22 wins. It?s sad for the seniors. They were a great group of leaders for us. Hopefully, we can learn from this and just move forward.?
The seniors
Bartz (18) and Hincka (20) combined for 38 points. Bartz had four field goals in the fourth quarter. Hincka had 20 rebounds. On March 2, the Vikings crushed Atlanta with Bartz and Hincka putting in 14 each. Paige Lewandowski and Meyers both had 10 apiece. The second quarter was the fifth time the Viking defense held a team scoreless for an entire quarter. Momrik said the goal all season is to hold an opponent under 10 in a quarter.