Eagles Fall to Freedom in Sectional Semifinals

The season came to an end Thursday for Southern Door’s boys basketball team.

The No. 2-seeded Eagles lost in the WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinals to top-seeded Freedom, 80-50, in a game played at Green Bay Preble High School.

The Irish, who led 44-23 at halftime, were able to dominate the game early on with their outside shooting, recording 11 of their 16 three-point baskets in the first 18 minutes, compared to Southern Door making only four threes for the entire game.

The Eagles were led by Drew Daoust with 20 points, followed by Matthew Malvitz with 12 points.

Drew Kortz led three Freedom players in double figures with a game-high 21 points, which included five threes. Matthew Eberhardt added 18 points with six threes, while Donovan Davis scored 17 more.

Southern Door, which had won 17 games in a row going into the sectional semifinals, finished the season 22-5 overall.

The Eagles will graduate two starters, Malvitz at center and Will Jandrin at forward. The team’s top scorer, Daoust, will return for his final season next year after having already compiled 2,225 career points, the current Door County scoring record. Southern Door’s junior point guard will need fewer points in 2024-25 than he scored this season (885) to reach 3,000.

The Irish advance to Saturday’s sectional title game in Manitowoc to face the top seed from the other half of the sectional bracket, Kiel.