The speed and the length the Gibraltar Vikings used to their advantage up to this point in the WIAA Tournament was finally matched on Saturday afternoon in a 66-54 loss to Newman Catholic in Seymour.
The Vikings would take an early lead as Mateo Jauregui and Will Friedenfels picked up where they left off on Thursday in Suring. The Cardinals would flip the script for good just moments later as they went on an 11-0 run that would keep the Vikings chasing for the rest of the afternoon. Mason Prey and Eli Gustafson gave the Vikings fits in the paint all afternoon, combining to score 17 points in the opening frame as they would help the Cardinals stretch their advantage to 15 points. The Vikings would cut the lead 31-22 at halftime thanks to Jake Schar knocking down a pair of threes.
The lead was cut to four early in the second half with Braden Sitte and Carl Burgess breaking through offensively as the Vikings kept to single digits for much of the second half. Prey and Isaac Seidel would make sure the Vikings' repeat of a Cinderella moment would not come true as they combined to score 28 points in the second half to slam the door on the Vikings' hope and send the Cardinals to Madison.
Prey led the Cardinals with 24 points and Seidel added 21 points. Gustafson chipped in 11 points in the win. Sitte led the Vikings with 15 points while Burgess added 12. Three of Gibraltar's other seniors made sure they did not go down quietly with Friedenfels scoring 11 points and Schar and Jauregui each chipping in eight points.
