Vikings? ride takes them to the Final Four
“It was a fantastic year, what can you say more than that,” said Posen basketball coach Ron Misiak Tuesday evening, reflecting back on the tremendous run of the 2004-05 Vikings. It was a season of firsts for the program, in the regular season and during a playoff march that took the boys to the Class D final four on high school basketball’s biggest stage: the Breslin Center at Michigan State University.
Even before the first game December 10, the players knew it could be a special season, but there was some healing that needed to take place. Some of the athletes were coming off the longest football run in school history and were nursing injuries. Matt Ponik and Aaron Hincka, who were all-state selections in basketball as juniors, along with Richie Kroll, were not 100 percent heading into the first game in early December.
Even with some early season adversity, the boys still believed they could be good enough to make it to the Breslin. James Sobek even went as far as getting coach Misiak to agree to shave his head if the red and white went 20-0. “Who would have believed that would come true? Not only did they have to be good, you have to be lucky,” said Misiak.
SOME OF that luck may have come from a storm that hit in early December when the Cedarville game was cancelled. With a banged-up squad, there’s no telling what the outcome would have been against an always strong Trojan team. Instead, the Vikes picked up win number one at Au Gres, crushing the Wolverines by 28. It was a warm-up for rival Mio. The Thunderbolts took their shots, but as many opponents would find out, the Vikings wouldn’t buckle during crunch time. That wouldn’t be the last of the tough games in December as Posen took a 3-0 record to Fairview. Misiak called the Eagles their toughest foe of the regular season.
“We were more afraid of them than Cedarville because of their speed,” said Misiak. The Vikes won the game 58-50. The new year would have its challenges when Aaron “Big U’ broke his foot against Hale on January 7. He would return a short three weeks later against Arenac Eastern to score 11. Early February provided the toughest stretch of games for the Vikings, but the boys survived every battle. They defeated Mio, Cedarville, Rogers City, and Fairview on Homecoming Night. When the dust settled, Posen had itself a 16-0 record. That would set up the last regular season game at Cedarville, February 25, which ended up being one of the most satisfying victories of the season as they completed the perfect regular season.
POSEN HAD little trouble in the district tournament on the home floor and was off to the second straight berth in the regional tournament. As was the case the year before, the Vikings advanced to the regional final and would not be denied against the scrappy Brimley Bays. It was the Vikings’ first regional championship since 1967 and some of the players from that squad were among the many fans cheering them on. That set up the first quarterfinal game in 38 years at Lake Superior State University against the Watersmeet Nimrods. The combined record of the two schools going into the game was 47-1. Something had to give. The Vikes played strong and had a double-digit lead in the second half, but their dream of playing in East Lansing started to crumble as Watersmeet took the lead away late in the fourth quarter.
After clutch shots by Kroll, the spotlight turned to Ponik for a finish that will be remembered for years to come when he banked in a layup with seven seconds left. “The kids ran it to perfection, from how we set it up. Everybody did their job. Ponik finished it strong,” said Misiak. That only tied the game. It was enough time for the Vikings to win the game and earn their trip
Misiak believes his boys were in awe of playing the top team in the state and started slow. He got the team out of their early funk and they proved themselves to be a worthy opponent. The Vikes played them even most of the way, but they needed more than that to win. Regardless of the outcome, it was a dream season for players, coaches, fans, and the community.
To rewind and live it over again would probably be a bit much for Misiak’s ticker, unless he knew how it was going to end.
The photo collage “Final Four” is available to order by calling the Advance office at 989-734-2105. It is printed on high quality Epson photo paper on 13×19-inch stock.