Vikings win second in big way over Fairview

by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor

The Posen Vikings flexed their muscles in winning two games in convincing fashion. The first came in an 82-20 win over AuGres last Thursday and the latest in an 81-41 win over Fairview. On the way to the wins, senior Jordan Hincka joined the 1,000-point club with 39 points against AuGres and 29 against Fairview. ?Jordan is one great player. He knows how to attack a zone and he knows how to attack a man-to-man,? said coach Steve Hentkowski.

?If you throw a double team at him he will make you pay with a pass. He is a very efficient player and he works to hard on defense. That is something he doesn?t get enough credit for, his defense. He really made a lot of things happen for us tonight.?

IN THE Fairview game, pressuring Posen defense ran out to a 12-0 lead in the game?s first three minutes. Fairview came back to cut the lead to seven at 15-8 with 2:46 left in the first quarter, before Posen mounted another rally. Baskets by Nick LaTulip, Hincka and a three-pointer by Nick Idalski put the Vikings up 25-10 at the end of the first quarter. Hincka?s 1,000th point came on a three-pointer from the top of the key, part of a rally that put the Vikings up 33-12 midway through the second quarter. With constant pressure and a patient offense, which encourages good passing and cutting to the basket, the Vikings led 38-16 at halftime.

FAIRVIEW WAS not ready to roll over and give up, as they cut the lead slightly at 42-26 with 4:20 left in the third quarter. Then the Vikings caught fire, going on a 20-4 run to seal the win. ?This group of kids has been playing together since the fourth grade. They just jell. I can?t put a finger on it, but they really work well together,? Hentkowski said. ?Everybody likes to work hard, everybody knows their job and it has been a lot of fun so far. I believe it will be a very fun year for Posen basketball.? Hincka?s 29 points led the team while LaTulip had 24 points and 15 rebounds and Paul Kroll added 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

LAST THURSDAY the Vikings turned in another dominant performance in the win over AuGres after a snowday cancelled the opener against Wolverine. ?The boys were very excited and ready to go. Our pressure defense caused many turnovers by AuGres,? Hentkowski said. Posen was up

26-2 at the end of the first quarter and 56-11 at halftime. Hincka scored 30 of his game-high 39 points in the first half, and sat out the entire fourth quarter. LaTulip added 24 points in the game, playing just the first three quarters. ?We continued the full court pressure defense, with big stretches of AuGres failing to get the ball over half-court,? Hentkowski said.

Posen led 70-18 at the end of the third quarter and limited AuGres to just two points in the final frame. ?We looked very good for our first game out. A first game is always a concern, not knowing how the players will respond,? Hentkowski said.

COACH GARY Bisson?s junior varsity team won both of their games last week. The JV Vikings defeated Fairview 50-41 on Monday and topped AuGres 54-46 last week. Against Fairview, the Vikings went up 16-12 after the first quarter and stayed up 26-22 at halftime. Justin LaPointe had 12 points while Shane Hentkowski added 10. In the AuGres game, a strong second quarter gave Posen a 25-21 lead at halftime. Hentkowski scored 24 in the game and Scott Couture added 13. Posen hosts Arenac Eastern tonight (Thursday) and plays at Rogers City Monday.