News Photo by James Andersen Posen’s Elena Kalbitzer (22) tries to dribble out of a trap while being defended by Wolverine players Hannah Parker (24), Kamara Cottrell (23) and Makenna Olds during the first half of a district girls basketball game on Wednesday at Hillman High School.

HILLMAN — A career night from Riley Krajniak helped the Posen girls basketball team survive an early postseason scare.

Krajniak scored a career-high 30 points, including five three-pointers, to help the Vikings defeat Wolverine, 58-50, in a Division 4 district semifinal on Wednesday at Hillman High School.

The win advances Posen (16-5) to a district championship matchup against Hillman at 7 p.m. Friday. A win would give the Vikings their first district championship since 2016.

In a game that saw the Wildcats (11-8) give the Vikings perhaps a little more than they bargained for, Posen rallied back for a postseason win after an uneven first half.

Posen led by as many as 10 in the second quarter, but trailed at halftime and almost half of the third quarter.

“We knew they were a good team. They’ve been scoring in the 60s and 70s against some teams this year. Nobody in this tournament is weak,” Posen coach Karl Momrik said of Wolverine. “We lost a little focus there in the first half, came back and played man-to-man (defense) and played well.”

Ultimately it was Krajniak who helped pull the Vikings out of their rut. The senior guard knocked down three triples in the third quarter, the second of which gave Posen the lead for good with 4:07 left in the third quarter. She knocked down another one near the end of a 10-1 run in the third quarter, which gave Posen a 43-34 lead.

Posen also helped its cause with a solid night at the free throw line, making 15-of-22 shots.

“She hit some bombs tonight and we sure needed them,” Momrik said of Krajniak. “They put us up where we needed to be.”

After three solid quarters, the well began to dry up for the Wildcats. Wolverine trailed 45-38 after three quarters and struggled to make shots from the field in the final eight minutes. A late run allowed Wolverine to pull within four, but too many earlier misses took their toll and Krajniak came up big again, icing the game with four free throws in the final 20 seconds.

Posen scored the contest’s first five points and led 15-10 after one quarter, but a normally solid Vikings squad missed numerous shot attempts close to the basket in the first half and had a few defensive lapses. While the Wildcats didn’t set the world on fire offensively, they had capable shooters on the outside and a steady inside presence to make enough shots to keep the game close.

Hannah Parker led Wolverine with 16 points, scoring a number of buckets inside. Kelli Thomas and Kamara Cottrell added 14 and 10 points respectively. Cottrell made three three-pointers in the second quarter alone, giving Wolverine a player to counter Krajniak, who had two second quarter triples.

Posen led 23-13 with 5:46 left in the first half, but Parker and Cottrell kept producing offensively for Wolverine. The duo combined for 15 points in the second quarter and helped the Wildcats end the quarter on a 16-4 run. A three-pointer from Cottrell made it 26-25 and then Wolverine took its first lead with 1:25 left on a basket from Thomas. Makenna Olds added a bucket and Wolverine ultimately went into halftime with a 29-27 lead.

The Wildcats pushed their lead to four early in the third quarter before Krajniak connected from deep and Makayla Kamyszek added two free throws to give Posen a 32-30 lead. Thomas answered to give the Wildcats the lead again, but another trey from Krajniak quickly gave Posen a lead it didn’t relinquish.

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BOX SCORE: Field Goals Made/Free Throws Made/Free Throws Attempted/Total Points

POSEN (58): R. Krajniak 10 5-8 30; M. Kamyszek 2 5-8 9; E. Kalbitzer 1 3-4 5; E. Szatkowski 2 2-2 6; M. Menzel 2 0-0 4; E. Romel 1 0-0 2; F. Cousins 1 0-0 2.

WOLVERINE (50): K. Thomas 5 3-4 14; H. Parker 6 4-11 16; M. Nelson 2 4-4 8; K. Cottrell 3 1-2 10; M. Olds 1 0-0 2.