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State Tournament: Randolph Presents Big Challenge for Gibraltar

Throughout their run to the state tournament the Gibraltar Vikings have enjoyed a notable size and height advantage. With five starters measuring 6 feet or taller, including 6’7” Will Friedenfels, plus 7’ Trevor Ash coming off the bench, the Vikings have controlled the paint. 

When they take the floor against the Randolph Rockets Friday morning at the state tournament in Madison, it will be a different story. The Rockets boast a lineup with six players at 6’4” or taller, including 6’6”, 250-pound Travis Alvin, the Wisconsin football prospect who will return to Madison to play tight end in the fall. 

“The bigs for Gibraltar are going to have their hands full with him,” said Mark Miller, editor at Wissports.net. 

Alvin is a four-year varsity player who averages 18 ppg and has scored more than 1,400 career points. And he’s not the only scorer the Vikings have to worry about. The one-seeded Rockets have another 1,400-point scorer in 6’4” guard Sam Greiger, who was the co-Player of the Year in the Trailways West conference. He averaged 21.5 ppg this season.

WATCH
Gibraltar’s state semifinal game will be carried live on Channel 14 and livestreamed at fox11online.com/sports/high-school-gametime/wiaa-livestream.

WIAA DIVISION 5 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Semifinals
Friday, March 18
Game 1:  #1 Randolph vs. #4 Gibraltar 9:05 a.m.
Game 2:  #2 Bangor vs. #3 Hurley (Approximately 15 minutes following game 1)

Championship
Saturday, March 19, 11:05 am

“He’s a good ball-handler and shooter, and his length could give Lindenberg some trouble on the defensive end,” Miller said. 

That’s Sam Lindenberg, Gibraltar’s own 1,000-point scorer who scores inside and outside. At 6’2”, he doesn’t usually have to look up at other guards. 

Greiger and Alvin don’t have the state tournament experience that Randolph usually brings to Madison. The Rockets hold the record for most titles won by a single school with 10, but their last state appearance came back in 2013, under legendary coach Bob Hafele. Coach Tyler Fischer is leading the team to state for the first time. 

SENDOFF
The Gibraltar Vikings team bus will be leaving the school Thursday at 8:15 am with an escort from the Gibraltar Fire Department before heading through downtown Fish Creek and Egg Harbor. Main Street Market will host a sendoff in Egg Harbor as the team goes through.

Randolph has sported good teams since then but haven’t been able to break out of sectionals. The 2019 team went 24-1, losing in the sectional semifinals. In 2020 they were 23-3 and headed to the sectional final when COVID-19 canceled the tournament, and in 2021 they lost in the sectional semifinals. 

“It’s going to be a challenge for Gibraltar,” Miller said. “But so was Columbus, and Gibraltar has some big guys of their own.”

But it’s a new court for everyone who takes the floor Friday, and these Vikings have stepped up to every challenge so far. The biggest now awaits at the Kohl Center. 

Door County at State

Door County doesn’t have a storied basketball history in the state tournament. Southern Door was the last school to make an appearance. The 1999 Eagles – featuring all-time county scoring leader Nathan Vogel – came within an overtime period of making it to the state championship game. Before that, you have to go all the way back to a version of basketball that fans wouldn’t recognize today. Sturgeon Bay made it to state three times between 1929 and 1940. 

In 1929, Sturgeon Bay lost to Oconto 20-11 in the first round, when all schools played in one division. In 1935, the tournament was split into a Class A and Class B. Sturgeon Bay lost to Superior East in Class A, 23-18. Then in 1940, with the state shifted back to the one-division format, Sturgeon Bay lost to Neenah in the first round, 41-38. 

That’s it: Door County’s entire history in the WIAA state boys basketball tournament. For several great Southern Door teams of recent vintage, Valders foiled dreams. For the great Sturgeon Bay teams of the early 2000s, it was Seymour. 

For some great Sevastopol, Sturgeon Bay and Gibraltar teams during the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was the one-division tournament that limited hopes. But ironically, once the state went to the three-class (1974), then four-division formats (1991), local squads haven’t been up to the task. For Sevastopol and Gibraltar, hope grew with the addition of a Division 5 in 2011, and 11 years later, Gibraltar has finally cashed in. 

Door County Boys Basketball State Tournament Results 

1999: Division 3 Semifinals, Southern Door 52, Omro 57 (in overtime) 

1929: Round 1, Sturgeon Bay 11, Oconto 20

1935: Round 1, Sturgeon Bay 18, Superior East 23

1940: Round 1, Sturgeon Bay 38, Neenah 41

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