After having won only two Packerland Conference boys basketball games last season, Sevastopol has already recorded three league victories before Christmas.
The Pioneers won Thursday’s conference matchup at Gibraltar, 59-53.
Sevastopol led 31-18 at halftime, before the Vikings narrowed the deficit in the final 18 minutes.
“We handled Sevastopol’s half-court trap enough to claw back in the game in the second half,” said Gibraltar head coach Travis Ward. “We came up short on a few shots around the basket and couldn’t secure a handful of rebounds down the stretch. But overall, I loved how we battled and stepped up when our number was called.”
With the Vikings once again being without their leading scorer, Kayin Jackson, due to injury, Ward said he thought they “played great basketball on both sides of the court.”
Marco Jauregui led Gibraltar with 15 points, followed by Wyatt Bultman with 11.
The Pioneers had three players score in double figures. Damien Lardinois tallied a game-high 21 points, which included three three-pointers. Zaul Valdivia added 15 points, with Bo Tanck scoring 10 more.
Sevastopol, which has defeated the other three Door County Packerland schools this season, improved to 3-1 in the conference and 5-2 overall.
The Pioneers return to action Dec. 30 at 10:30 am to face Lena in the Sun Drop Shootout at the Kress Events Center on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus. They open the new year on the road with a non-conference game Jan. 2 at Marinette and a Packerland matchup Jan. 6 at Kewaunee.
The Vikings (1-3, 1-7) host their next conference game Jan. 6 against Southern Door (0-3, 0-4).
“We head into the break knowing that we’re a better team than our record indicates,” Ward said. “Looking forward to getting back to work over the holiday break.”