MIO AuSABLE - Mar. 3, 2010 - Hillman's 3-point shooting had Posen on shaky ground at halftime of Wednesday's Class D district semifinal at Mio.

But in the second half, the Vikings went "big" and used a couple of runs at the starts of the third and fourth quarters to pull away from the stubborn Tigers, 51-38.

Posen's inside combination of Janice Ciarkowski, Lindsey Bartz and Korynn Hincka made life difficult for the Tigers, who were in a world of hurt after forward Courtney Jones picked up her third and fourth fouls in quick succession before halftime. The Tigers, behind three first-half 3-pointers from Alissa Clink, trailed just 17-16 at the half, but Bartz and Hincka combined to score the first eight points of the third quarter to put the Vikings up nine.

"Jones in foul trouble hurt them bad," said interim Posen coach Kevin Romel. "We went with the big lineup and eliminated their 3-point shots. We knew what was coming, we knew they'd be going to the deep corner, we just weren't getting there in the first half.

"In the second half we got there a lot better. We put Korynn in there; she's not easy to shoot over, and we did a lot better job controlling the boards."

To the Tigers' credit, they didn't buckle. Hillman played the final three weeks of the season without leading scorer Maci Schook (knee), and several players (as well as coach John Kuzewski) were suffering from the flu.

"We played hard," Kuzewski said. "The difference tonight -- really, all three times we played them -- was we had way too many turnovers that led to baskets. When you give up a couple of 6-0 runs it's tough to overcome."

"We need to convert on those steals," Romel said. "We didn't so much in the first half. But once we started converting those turnovers we knew we were in good shape."

The Tigers stayed within range until early in the fourth quarter. but after two Clink free throws pulled Hillman to within 36-29, Posen answered with a two free throws and a basket from Hincka and a 3-point play Bartz to make it 45-31. Though Clink hit one more triple, Hillman got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Clink scored 14 and Randi Edgar added 11 for the Tigers (12-10).

Posen head coach Karl Momrik was also on the bench for his first game since suffering a heart attack last month, though acting in a limited assistant's role for the remainder of the season.

Lindsay Ponik led the Vikings (14-7) with 12 points, Bartz added 11 and Hincka had 10, all in the second half. Posen takes on Mio AuSable in Friday's district title game.

"Our big concern will be trying to stop Kelsie Blamer," Romel said. "She's so athletic, if she gets into a one-on-one situation she's going to score. She's just such a force both offensively and defensively."