MIO AuSABLE - Mar. 5, 2010 - A season with plenty of challenges for Posen's girls basketball team now has a night of celebration to remember.

The Vikings capped a late-season surge on Friday by holding on to defeat district host Mio AuSable 45-44 to win their first tourney title since 2006.

"What a great thing," said Posen interim coach Kevin Romel. "The kids did just what we asked them to. It was quite a game."

Head coach Karl Momrik, still recovering from his February heart attack, decided after watching Wednesday's semifinal in person to stay away from the gym, until the final frantic moments had run off the clock.

"Karl was driving around getting updates by phone," Romel said. "For the last few minutes he was standing out in the hallway waiting for the game to end. It was so hot in here the other night he wasn't sure he could take it again.

"But when we were celebrating he was right there in the middle of it, and we went and got the trophy together. It was so cool."

The Vikings focused their efforts on slowing down Mio's Kelsie Blamer, holding her to eight points.

"We made sure she didn't get any fast break points, and we did a great job defending her at the 3-point line," Romel said.

Korynn Hincka came up big with a team-high 18 points.

"She had a monster game," Romel said. "Janice Ciarkowski got in foul trouble and Korynn came in and played almost the whole first half."

Anna Couture made two clutch free throws in the final seconds to give Posen a 45-42 lead, and the Vikings denied Mio a 3-point attempt on the Bolts' final possession.

"We made sure the girls defended the 3-point line," Romel said. They finally went in and got the two, but there were only a couple seconds left and we didn't have to inbound the ball."

Shelby Satkowiak led all scorers with 19 points for Mio (12-10).

Lindsey Bartz had 12 points and Couture added nine for Posen (15-7). The Vikings, who started the season at 2-5, head to Tuesday's regional semifinal at St. Ignace, where they will take on Pickford (19-3).