The Sevastopol Pioneers defeated the #7 Florence Bobcats 50-31 Monday night to win regionals for the second time in three years. 

The Pioneers found themselves down 17-20 at the end of the first half. However after a strong run at the start of the second half, the girls locked down Florence and only allowed 11 second-half points. Senior Naomi Rikkola led the Pioneers with a game-high 29 points, and senior Kayla Ranly added 11 points. 

In the second round of regionals, they defeated #6 Wabeno/Laona 50-21 led by senior Kayla Ranly’s 14 points. This broke the curse as Wabeno/Laona knocked the Pioneers out of the playoffs two years in a row–last year in the regional finals and the year before in the sectional semi finals.

“It was so much fun beating them, especially since they knocked us out of playoffs the last two years. It was exciting to finally get them back for my senior year.” 

In the first round, the Pioneers dominated #14 Wausaukee with a 70-13 win where once again they were led by Kayla Ranly scoring 19 points.

The Pioneers are now just two games away from state. Thursday night they play against #4 Oneida Nation at a neutral site in Manitowoc. The Eagles are coming off a narrow 46-45 win against Packerland Conference opponent N.E.W Lutheran.