Hillman Tigers varsity boys’ basketball team suffered their first league loss to the Posen Vikings on the road, with a final score of 57-50.

The loss places Hillman and Posen in a first place tie for the Little Dipper North Star League (NSL) championship. The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak that Hillman had over Posen dating back to 2021.

The Tigers could not match Posen’s intensity from the tip as the Vikings would jump out to a 22-6 lead and never look back. The Tigers gained four points in the second quarter, five points in the third, and another four points in the fourth quarter. These gains could not push the Tigers past the Vikings on the score board.

Hillman’s lack of intensity, turnovers, and foul trouble plagued the team all night.

The Tigers fouled out four of five starters and sent Posen to the free-throw line for 40 attempts. Hillman turned the ball over 35 times with two assists during the game, as well.

“Hopefully this game will sting a little for the guys,” Hillman Tigers varsity boys’ basketball coach Eric Muszynski said. “Naturally, we didn’t bring it in the first quarter and throughout the game, which is something we have struggled with over the last two weeks. Ultimately you can’t turn the ball over 35 times and send a team to the line 40 times either. Those two stats are a lack of discipline on our part along with four guys fouling out.”

Leading scorer for Hillman was Senior Guard Aedan Tucker and Senior Forward Evan Crane with ten points each.

Leading scorers for Posen were Gavin Keller, earning 19 points, Colton Paull, earning 13 points, and Omar Perez, earning 11 points.