Undefeated Vikings clinch outright title, focus on league perfection
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
Steve Hentkowski wasn’t pleased with the way Tuesday night started on the hardwood, but by the end of the night, the Viking boys? basketball team would put another historic stamp on the program?s banner. Posen (17-0, 12-0) added its second North Star League championship in four years, and the third in seven years with a three-quarter blow out of Atlanta, 82-45. The Huskies surprised one of the top-ranked schools in Class D by taking a seven-point first-quarter lead, until Posen finally pulled in the reins of reality and went on a 15-2 run to close out the final four minutes of the first half.
?We just didn’t want to win the North Star League, we wanted to win it outright,? said Hentkowski. It’s the programs first outright title since the great 2005 team went to the state finals at the Breslin Center. THE VIKINGS still have their sights set on a perfect league mark and will face a tough test at Hillman tomorrow night, then, there’s a distinct possibility, that like the ’05 team, Cedarville will stand in the way of a perfect regular season record. While the fans have been chatting up next Wednesday’s home contest with the state?s No. 1 ranked team, Hentkowski will be trying to keep the focus on the current task of beating Hillman.
?We are taking it one game at a time,? said Hentkowski. ?Our goal is to still go undefeated in the North Star League. In order to do that, we have to show up and play team defense. Hillman is a very difficult place to play. ?We will focus on Cedarville at about 9:30 on Friday night.? Hillman and Mio are the final league contests. ATLANTA PLAYED with a spark in jumping to a 19-12 lead with a minute left in the first. A pair of free throws by David Kerr helped end the first quarter at 19-14, and Posen played crisp to start the second quarter, setting up Jerome Ciarkowski for a field goal to trim the deficit to three, but the visitors wouldn?t back down.
A three-pointer from junior Joshua Eising put the Huskies back up by six, 24-18. Posen was already in the bonus at this point, so it aided the comeback. Ciarkowski, who had a career night 28 points, knocked down a pair of free throws. Kerr put in an offensive rebound, just ahead of Shane Hentkowski?s three-pointer from the left wing for a 25-24 Viking lead. Posen?s lead was three after Kerr faked a defender out of his socks with a terrific move to score a reverse layup. The halftime score was 33-26.
The home team had no trouble putting away Atlanta in the second half. NATHAN LENARD, who has 23 assists in three games, hit from downtown for a 44-30 advantage. ?This was a team victory,? said Hentkowski. ?I had my point guard (Nick Hincka) out with an injury, his ankle. Shane was playing with a thigh contusion. It shows this team has the heart to battle back.? Ciarkowski had his fourth double double of the season with 11 reboun
The Vikings knocked off Hale last Friday, 52-41. Ciarkowski was the top scorer with 19, 15 of which were scored in the second half, while Kerr added 16. THE JUNIOR varsity improved to 11-6 overall and 7-5 in the conference. They defeated Atlanta 48-23 with another strong performance by Luke Litwinski with 19 points. Brandon Dietz added 10 points and 16 rebounds, while Warren Beach had 16 rebounds. ?I got good contributions from Anthony Freske and Tyler DeRosia,? said coach Tim Romel.
The squad defeated Hale 37-29. Litwinski led the way with 14 and was followed by Dietz with seven points and 14 rebounds. John Zaborney boarded 11. On Feb. 7, Litwinski topped the scoring sheet in a 36-24 victory over Alcona. Beach grabbed 12 rebounds.