North Fondy stuns Winnebago Lutheran

North Fond du Lac seemed dead in the water.

But even down 20 points with less than 10 minutes to go, the players never looked like they were out of the game.

They weren't.

The Orioles applied a full-court press, upped the physicality and forced Winnebago Lutheran into a litany of mistakes to come back and get a 56-52 Flyway road win on Tuesday night.

"That's a crazy high school basketball game," NFDL coach Gary Kuehl said. "We were down and the girls, I give them credit, they just kept battling.

"They probably made the coach look bad by [showing] we probably should have pressed earlier, but did a nice job at the end."

NFDL (10-9 overall, 5-6 in Flyway) scored the last 17 points of the game, holding WLA scoreless for the final 6:00. Despite the increased physicality, the Orioles only picked up one foul during that stretch.

At the start of the run, senior Leah Patterson hit three important shots, two 3s and a long 2, to spark momentum. Patterson finished with a game-high 15.

"I give them all the credit in the world, they just kept fighting," Kuehl said. "Leah Patterson made some big shots for us."

Junior Allison Now, as she has so often this season, led the defensive charge, sticking tightly to junior Silvia Sopena, who was WLA's leading scorer with 14.

Now said the team knew it had to get back to what it does best.

"We just had to play our best defense," Now said. "We just had to get out there and steal the ball how we normally do. We know who we are and what we have to do to win."

Kuehl said that everything started on the defensive end with their leader, Now.

"It starts with the defense and when you get stops and start playing aggressive defense," Kuehl said. "Allison really leads that charge for us. She's the best athlete on the floor pretty much every night we're playing and she just kept encouraging her team to keep going."

WLA (8-12, 4-8) had built the large lead in large part thanks to its patient offense and hot 3-point shooting. The Vikings made seven 3s, but could not get into their offense once the press was applied.

The backcourt duo of Sopena and junior Addy Suprenand was excellent early in the game, for the pair combined for 27 points.

Another inflection point was right before NFDL's incredible run when WLA lost sophomore Jill Pinno, who hurt her lower leg battling for a rebound. Pinno had eight points and had dominated inside. She did not return.

PHOTO GALLERY: NFDL at WLA girls basketball - 2/11/2025