HALE - Mar. 10, 2010 - Posen pushed Hillman to the limit during Wednesday's Class D district semifinal at Hale, but the Tigers managed to dodge an upset to their rivals by holding on for a 51-46 victory that was in doubt until the final seconds.

"In March, anything can happen," said Hillman coach Eric Muszynski. ""We were 19-1 in the regular season, but everyone is 0-0 now. And Posen already won a district game, so they had a better record than us.

"I'm proud that we held our ground and kept our composure."

Posen trailed 41-33 early in the fourth quarter, but a Scott Couture 3-pointer, a basket by Jerome Ciarkowski and two David Kerr free throws pulled the Vikings to within a point.

Posen twice more got to within one at 45-44 and 47-46 and both times had a shot at taking the lead.

With 35 seconds left, Ciarkowski had an open lane to the basket but was unable to score despite drawing some contact at the hoop -- which wasn't unusual in a physical game in which few fouls were called.

Andy Smith hit two free throws with a minute left to put Hillman up three, but Ciarkowski cut it to one with 18 seconds left. Devon Shumaker drained two free throws with 7.7 seconds left, but Posen was unable to get off a game-tying shot as the ball was knocked free, then picked up a technical foul with one second left to give Smith two more free throws.

"I don't usually like to say much about the officiating," Muszynski said. "But they did let the guys play all night. They were consistent, for the most part.

"My hat's off to Posen, though. They played a tough game, and I'm proud we were able to pull it out at the end."

Posen led by as many as six points in the first quarter, Hillman came back with a 16-6 run and led 25-23 at the half.

"It's always tough to beat a team three times," Muszynski said. "I thought Posen was a little better prepared going in tonight, because they had a little better idea what they needed to capitalize on.

"They played a four-point game with Hale and we knew what they were capable of. We knew it would be tough."

Ciarkowski led Posen (12-10) with 20 points, with Kerr adding 10.

Smith scored 15, Shumaker added 14 and Lance Safford had 12 for Hillman (20-1), which faces Hale (20-2) for the district title on Friday.