Vikings top Hurons in regional battle

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

Junior David Kerr?s 24 points led Posen past Rogers City in the first-ever regional meeting of the schools on the hardwood. ?We didn?t have an answer for (Kerr),? said Huron coach Jesse Streich. ?He made some key shots.? Kerr was making jumpers in the open spots of the zone, or getting open to the side of the net. ?David has done a really good job against zones,? said Posen coach Steve Hentkowski. With the 61-49 win, the Vikings (23-1) joined the Class D?s sweet 16 and were looking for their first regional title since 2005. Wednesday?s (after press time) final was a rematch of the regional title game of 2006 between Posen and Cedarville. That was the year Cedarville ran the table and won the state championship. The Trojans also are the only team to hand the Vikings a loss this season.

Hentkowski knows his club needs to be more consistent from the free throw-line, especially against Cedarville. Early against Rogers City (9-15) Monday, it wasn?t pretty. They were one-for-nine from the free-throw line in the first half. ?I guess the black devil from the free-throw line came and haunted us today,? said Hentkowski. ROGERS CITY (RC) was down by four in the third, 38-34, and by six midway through the fourth.

?We left too many points on the floor,? said Streich. The Vikings started hot out of the gate, while Rogers City missed on early chances. The Hurons won the opening tip and fed the ball into the paint, but couldn?t convert the lay-up. Kerr scored on the other end. RC went on offense, got the open man, but couldn?t convert. After Shane Hentkowski and Nick Hincka made three-pointers for the Vikings, Chris Waibel found Jesse Wilbert wide-open to the right of the net (8-4).

The Vikings proceeded to go on an 11-1 run with points coming from Hincka, Jerome Ciarkowski, Nathan Lenard and Kerr. Waibel slowed the run with a bucket, but Kerr grabbed two offensive rebounds and scored to get the lead back to 14 (21-7). The momentum started swinging the Hurons? way when Austin Brege made a clean steal and went in for a layup before the end of the first quarter. The score was 21-9. At 23-10, Brege fired in a three to get it to 10 (23-13). The teams traded baskets, before Waibel scored five straight to trim the Vikes lead to seven. Chad Karsten entered the game and made an inside bucket and the lead was five (27-22).

Posen went on a 7-2 run to close out the first half with a 34-24 score. WHILE POSEN was disappointed they let the Hurons back into the game, RC came out just as strong in the second half, getting four straight from Devin Hilla and Brege. Kerr found a seam in the zone and fired in the jumper, but Jordan Bellmore answered with a couple of free throws (36-30). Brege, who had a shot blocked by Tyler Kuffel, grabbed the rebound and got another shot at points, making one-of-two from the free-throw line.

The speedy Kerr put in a running ?J?, but a free throw from Chase Grulke and Brege?s quick drive down a wide-open lane to the basket had the Hurons down by only four (38-34), forcing Hentkowski to call timeout. ?Once we would go on a run, we turned it over, and that killed us,? said Streich. Out of the time-out, Lenard scored on a baseline drive; however, Josh Vogelheim?s points put the Hurons back within four, 40-36, before Posen came up with a big play, running a fast break of Kerr to Lenard to Kuffel, who made a three-point play (43-36), and got things going from the free-throw line for the red and white as they would go on to make six straight extending into the fourth. PATRICK SCHUCH?S first points of the playoffs, put the Vikings back up by 11, before Waibel converted on a three-point play. Bellmore?s baseline drive at the six-minute mark got it to six. A few minutes later, Waibel converted again and the score was 47-43 with a little more than four minutes left.

Rogers City had at least three possessions to get closer, b

ut missed on a long three attempt and an easy shot. The coaches also believe the officials missed a call in this sequence, when a Posen player slapped the backboard trying to block a shot. It would have been an automatic two points and a 47-45 ballgame. Kerr kept the Posen ship headed in the right direction with a field goal inside, off a steal and an assist from Ciarkowski, and then, after another long three-point miss by RC, Kerr was fouled inside and made two to get the lead back to 10, 53-43. After Posen?s streak of six straight from the free-throw line ended, they made seven in a row, to put the game away.

?GIVE THEM credit, they made (their free throws) at the end,? said Streich. ?Rogers City brought a lot of energy today,? said Hentkowski. ?They put out a heck of a effort.? Chris Waibel, one of three outgoing seniors, led RC with 14. The other seniors are Jesse Wilbert and Jordan Bellmore. Streich has eight juniors coming back, who he hopes will put in the work during the off-season. Ciarkowski was the only other Viking in double figures with 12.