Though it’s been a difficult basketball season for Hopkins, the team in the last several weeks has been showing promising signs of coming together, and it’s translated into what once were hard to come by — victories.

The Vikings, who coach Darrin Smith even looked good in an O-Silver Conference loss to Kelloggsville late last month, took a 57-47 decision from Plainwell in the Class B district opener Monday night on their home court.

The win brought the team’s overall season record now to 5-15 and enabled them to meet Allegan in the district semifinals at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Hopkins.

The Vikings started strong by taking an 18-11 advantage at the end of the first period and they widened the gap to 33-23 at intermission. The two teams played evenly the rest of the way, though Hopkins entered the fourth quarter with a 13-point cushion.

Senior 6-7 center Jake Sapp dropped in 23 points and gathered 12 rebounds. Curtis Opatic, who has been on a tear of late and fueled the Vikings’ late season surge, scored 17 points and dished out two assists.