Pioneers Fend Off Vikings in Regional Semifinals

Sevastopol’s Naomi Rikkola (20) dribbles inside past Gibraltar’s Andie Schar (21) during Friday’s WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal at Sevastopol. Photo by Kevin Boneske.

A spirited crowd was on hand in the Sevastopol High School gym on Friday night when the No. 2-seeded Pioneer girls basketball team hosted 10th-seeded Gibraltar in the WIAA Division 5 regional semifinals.

Fans of both teams raised the decibel level as the game remained scoreless until just before the midway point of the first half when a field goal from Quincy Chomeau gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

Gibraltar’s Anna Jarosh added a free throw with 8:13 left before halftime for a 3-0 advantage, then Sevastopol got on the scoreboard with 13 unanswered points.

From there, the tournament game played out as the previous two Packerland Conference contests did this season between the two teams with the Pioneers dominating. Katie Spude closed out the first half with a layup to give Sevastopol a 22-8 lead at the break.

The Pioneers went on to defeat the Vikings, 42-23.

Naomi Rikkola led Sevastopol with 15 points. Kayla Ranly added 13 points.

Gibraltar was led by Mikala Gorham with 11 points.

The Pioneers, who improved to 22-3 overall, host the regional championship game Saturday night against No. 3-seeded Laona/Wabeno.

The Vikings ended the season 11-15 overall.