Vikings get much needed win over Washington 57-48

By Chris Morlan

First game since Christmas break for the North Posey boys’ basketball team was on Saturday, January 3 in a home matchup with the Washington Hatchets. Prior to this contest, North Posey lost their previous game, while Washington had lost four straight games.

The Vikings led the entire game except one time at 10-8 in the first quarter. North Posey controlled this matchup the rest of the way and went on to win by the final score of 57-48.

For the season, North Posey improved their record to two wins and seven losses. With the loss, Washington’s season record fell to two wins and seven losses. The Hatchets are currently on a five-game losing streak. “The guys put in a lot of quality time during the break,” North Posey coach Jeff Embrey said. “It was good to see that their hard work paid dividends.”

North Posey started in the first quarter leading 13-12 after one period of the game completed. At the start of the second quarter, Washington only had four players on the court when North Posey inbounded the ball with the fifth Hatchet running out on the court. The officials blew their whistle and discussed situation. Washington received a technical on their bench giving North Posey two free throws and the ball back. The Vikings controlled the second quarter by outscoring the Hatchets 16-10 to take a 29-22 advantage to the halftime break.

During the third quarter, North Posey built their biggest lead of the game at 13 points when the score was 38-25. Washington kept fighting back and close that gap to 44-34 ending the third period. The fourth quarter was a dogfight between these two schools. Washington battled back and cut the Viking lead down to four points at 48-44 midway through the fourth quarter. North Posey closed out the game on a 9-4 run to win 57-48.

Camden Clowers led the Viking by scoring a game-high 17 points. Clowers scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half. Brayden Compton finished the game with 14 points, scoring ten of those in the second half. Grant Cullman came off the bench giving the Vikings a spark by scoring 10 points. Levi Burkemper led Washington by scoring 10 points.

“We mixed up our lineup, and they were able to get off to a good start,” Embrey said. “Grant Cullman came off the bench and gave us a spark both offensively and defensively. Good to see that we had three in double figures.”

Saturday, January 3, 2026, at North Posey High School

Washington 12 10 12 14 — 48

North Posey 13 16 15 13 — 57

WASHINGTON (48): C. Wright 2 0-0 5, C. Turner 3 0-0 6, B. Armes 3 1-3 7, J. Brower 3 0-0 7, J. Garland 2 0-0 5, E. Keeker 0 0-0 0, X. Lesure 1 1-4 3, A. Boyd 0 5-6 5, J. Johnson 0 0-0 0, L. Burkemper 3 4-5 10.

NORTH POSEY (57): C. Clowers 4 9-12 17, C. Schickel 1 0-0 3, B. Compton 6 2-2 14, T. Buecher 2 1-2 6, T. Arnold 3 0-0 7, C. Wilzbacher 0 0-0 0, G. Cullman 3 3-5 10.

3-point field goals: North Posey 4 (G. Cullman 1, C. Schickel 1, T. Arnold 1, T. Buecher 1), Washington 3 (C. Wright 1, J. Brower 1, J. Garland 1); Free Throws: North Posey 15-21, Washington 10-18; Total Fouls: North Posey 17, Washington 22; Fouled Out: (North Posey) None; (Washington) C. Turner.

In the junior varsity game, North Posey lost to Washington 45-36. The Hatchets started off in the first quarter with an early 8-3 advantage. North Posey fought back in the second quarter, outscoring Washington 15-8 to take an 18-16 lead at the halftime break.

Washington regained the lead in the third quarter outscoring North Posey 17-4. After three quarters of the game completed, the Hatchets led 33-22. North Posey refused to back down and won the fourth quarter 14-12 but lost the game by the final score of 45-36.

Viking freshman Cody Crane led the Vikings by scoring a game-high 18 points. Over the last three games, Crane has averaged 21.0 points per game. Jacob Embrey scored six points, followed by Levi Koester with four points, Will Barton with three points, Reid Kihn with three points, and Hank Lilly with two points. Jake Johnson led Washington by scoring 11 points.

North Posey played at home last Tuesday night against the Evansville Memorial Tigers. The Vikings were looking to building off the previous win over Washington. This matchup started off well for the Vikings, then control of the game got away from them quickly as Memorial defeated North Posey 68-40.

With the loss, North Posey’s season record dropped to two wins and eight losses. Memorial improved their season record to five wins and four losses. The Vikings started off the first quarter playing well and leading 11-6. Memorial closed out the first quarter with a 6-0 scoring run to take the lead as time expired with a jump shot from Maxx Anslinger. At the end of the first period, Memorial led 12-11.

Memorial extended their scoring run to 12-0 in the second quarter to then lead 18-11. Every time North Posey scored a basket, Memorial matched it with points of their own. The Vikings were not out of the game at the end of the first half only trailing by nine points at 30-21.

This scenario has happened to North Posey numerous times this season with one bad quarter of basketball played causing them to lose the game. That is what happened in this game against Memorial during the third quarter. The Tigers outscored the Vikings 27-8 in the third quarter to build their advantage up to 57-29.

In the fourth quarter, this game was out of reach for the Vikings to make a comeback. Many starters sat for most of the fourth quarter as the game clock ran out of time. Memorial walked away with a 28-point win over North Posey.

Camden Clowers led the Vikings by scoring 16 points. Brayden Compton scored eight points with all scored in the first half. Compton got his third and fourth fouls in the third quarter and never bounced back from those calls. Maxx Anslinger led Memorial by scoring a game-high 18 points. Dylen Kendrick scored 13 points for the Tigers. Another factor that hurt the Vikings was committing 22 turnovers in this game.

Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at North Posey High School

Ev. Memorial 12 19 27 11 — 68

North Posey 11 10 8 11 — 40

EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL (68): D. Kendrick 6 1-1 13, B. Combs 4 0-2 9, M. Anslinger 6 6-7 18, J. Lowery 4 0-0 9, M. Hamlin 1 0-0 2, L. Dockery 2 0-0 6, P. Powell 1 2-2 4, A. Broshears 1 0-0 2, C. Quick 0 0-0 0, D. Ellis 0 0-0 0, G. Rogier 0 0-0 0, I. Gibson 2 1-4 5, B. Keck 0 0-0 0.

NORTH POSEY (40): C. Clowers 5 4-4 16, C. Schickel 1 0-0 3, B. Compton 3 2-3 8, T. Buecher 0 0-0 0, T. Arnold 3 1-3 7, C. Wilzbacher 0 0-0 0, G. Cullman 0 0-0 0, B. Fehn 1 0-0 3, R. Esche 0 0-0 0, E. Buchanan 0 0-0 0, R. Kihn 0 0-0 0, C. Crane 1 0-0 3.

3-point field goals: North Posey 5 (C. Clowers 2, C. Schickel 1, B. Fehn 1, C. Crane 1), Memorial 4 (L. Dockery 2, B. Combs 1, J. Lowery 1); Free Throws: North Posey 7-10, Memorial 10-16; Total Fouls: North Posey 16, Memorial 14; Fouled Out: (North Posey) C. Wilzbacher; (Memorial) None.