JUNIOR WARREN Beach works around a few Hale defenders to go to the hoop in recent action. Beach and the Vikings completed a perfect season at home last Friday. They will be at Mio this Friday in the final contest of the regular season as they look to finish 14-0 in the North Star League. (Photo by Peter Jakey)
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It was a night filled with mixed emotions, especially for five Posen seniors. The league champs defeated Hillman to claim a 13th consecutive North Star League (NSL) contest last Friday, but it would be their final home game.
Head coach Steve Hentkowski sent out seniors David Kerr, Jerome Ciarkowski, Tyler Kuffel, Nathan Lenard and Zach Idalski to challenge the opening tip.
“It’s pretty sad,” said Kerr. “It was so nice playing basketball here. For it to be over kind of (stinks).”
Kuffel was pleased the Vikings came out strong.
“Overall, I think we all played well as a team,” said Kuffel. “Our bench came in and played strong. It was a good turnout too.”
Posen led 15-12 after the first quarter, but stepped up the defensive intensity in the second.
“In the second, we played outstanding defense,” said Hentkowski. “We held Hillman to five points, and we put up 20. Our transition game was working really well. They were boarding extremely well in that second quarter.”
HENTKOWSKI SAID the Vikings came out with the same energy in the third and held the Tigers to five again, season lows in back-to-back quarters. The final score was 58-41.
“So, that’s a real good sign heading to the postseason,” the coach said. Ciarkowski led all scorers with 19, while Kerr and Nick Hincka had nine each.
“I thought we played a great game, I was happy,” said Ciarkowski.
“I thought it was great to beat Hillman, because it’s always a big rival of ours,” said Idalski. “It felt good. It was a nice adrenaline rush with all the parents and everything. It was a fun experience.”
“It was a real nice tuneup before Cedarville,” the coach said.
Cedarville was 16-2 heading into the Posen contest. The final regular season game is Friday at Mio, as the Vikes hope to put the final touches on the undefeated NSL season. The district tournament will be played in Hale.
The junior varsity (3-8 NSL, 4-13 overall) lost 77-43 to Hillman. Travis Sharpe had 14, while John Zaborney had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Chase Lewandowski had 14 points and 11 rebounds in his best of the year, said coach Tim Romel.
Last Tuesday, they lost to Atlanta 59-39. Sharpe had 15. Zaborney had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
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