Quicker, healthier Mio club gets one back from Posen

Two starters were out of the lineup for Posen, and other players were not feeling their best as the Vikings lost to first place Mio Tuesday, 79-63. The Thunderbolts, who are 4-0 at home this season, have gotten healthier since Posen defeated them back in December in overtime, and are playing better. Michael Provost, one of Mio?s top scoring threats, did not play in the earlier meeting. He scored 12 to even the season series at 1-1. ?I had two of my starters out tonight, one for disciplinary reasons, and the other was injured (and) two of my starters had the flu tonight,? said Posen coach Steve Hentkowski. ?Everybody gave everything they had, including my bench. It was a good effort, but Mio is a fast team and we couldn?t stay with them.? Posen?s record slips to 5-7 overall, 4-5 in the North Star League. Mio?s only loss this season was against the Vikings. They are 9-1 in the league.

SENIOR RICHIE KROLL is recovering from an ankle injury and may get back into the lineup for the homecoming game tomorrow (Friday) against Arenac Eastern. The other starter, who has been disciplined, may miss four games for an incident unrelated to basketball. ?(Mio) definitely played a lot better tonight than the first time we had seen them,? Hentkowski said. ?I had seen them a couple of weeks ago and they looked good then, too. They brought their defense here tonight. They pressured the ball like normal Mio basketball. We were not getting back on defense and a lot of that had to do that with a very ill team, and that hurt us.? Losers of two straight at home to Posen and four overall, Mio coach Dennis Kann said he never wants to see his team lose at home. ?They have been nothing but good games,? said Kann of the games between the two schools. ?Even last year we gave you a heck of a fight, even though you guys were semifinalists. It feels good? The kids wanted to get a little payback.?

WITH HEAVY pressure, Mio took control from the opening tip. During a 12-2 run to open up the game, the Vikings struggled to get the ball past half court. The mix of juniors and sophomores, who started the game, got on track after a timeout with a field goal by junior Jason Romel, a three ball by sophomore Jordan Hincka, and a pair of free throws by junior Jason McLeod. At the 1:57 mark of the first quarter, Posen was down by only five, 14-9. The Bolts went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter to take a 23-11 lead into the second quarter. The Vikings would not get the deficit below double digits the rest of the night.

The Mio led by as many as 20 before halftime, 40-20, after Pat Wright made four free throws on a foul call, and what Hentkowski thought was a questionable technical call. Mio could have had more points if they had not missed seven free throws in the quarter.

POSEN CHIPPED away at the lead and got to within 12 in the fourth quarter. A three pointer by junior Matt Styma, a field goal down low by junior Brad Haske, and a bucket by Jordy made the score 75-63. Mio scored the final two baskets. Even with the flu bug, Hincka was zeroed in, scoring a game-high 24 points. Romel and sophomore Nick LaTulip both added 11 apiece. Mio had three players in double digits, including senior Steve Sidebo

ttom with 22.

The Vikings bounced back from a loss to Rogers City with a 66-48 whipping of Hillman last Friday. The scoring was evenly distributed among several players. Hincka had 14, senior Matt Szczerowski 10, McLeod nine, LaTulip and Haske both had eight each.

THE POSEN JV (8-4) came back from 12 down late to tie the game against Mio on a three pointer by sophomore Paul Kroll, who had a game-high 31 points. Mio made one free throw to take a 63-62 lead with six seconds left. Coach Gary Bisson called the play, the boys ran it, but could not convert the lay up. Sophomore Nick Delekta had nine in the game.

The Vikes took care of Hillman Friday, 54-32. Sophomore Derek King put in 14, while sophomore Nick Idalski had 11. Sophomore Nathan Strzelecki added nine. After Friday?s homecoming game, the basketball teams have three straight road games starting with Gaylord St. Mary Tuesday.

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