WLA earns conference win against Campbellsport

Silvia Sopena has been a revelation for Winnebago Lutheran since the holiday break.

She continued her consistent play in Wednesday night's 56-31 Flyway win at Campbellsport, snapping a five-game losing streak for WLA.

Sopena scored a game-high 17 points, leading the Vikings offensively for the fourth straight game. She is a foreign exchange student from Spain, and she said she is starting to feel more comfortable playing on a new team.

"I think I've been getting more confident," Sopena said. "When I came here, at first, the team was new and everything, so I was feeling my comfort zone.

"I've been playing [basketball] for a long time now, but now that I've been playing more with this team, I'm feeling more confident."

Sopena helped to spark an 18-6 run in the second half to put the game away. She forced three turnovers, which led to easy transition points.

Twelve of her points came in the second half.

"I like guarding the person bringing the ball up because I feel like if we push [the tempo], they will get tired and then it's going to be easier to steal the ball from them," Sopena said.

WLA (6-8 overall, 3-6 in Flyway) jumped out to an early 9-1 lead, thanks to senior Anna Trewin and sophomore Jill Pinno.

The pair, who are cousins, scored the first 9 points. Trewin said it has been a cool experience to get to play with Pinno.

"I think it's good that Jill's on varsity now because we've been playing together since we were how old," Trewin said. "I think it's just really carried over to this year."

Pinno, who had to contend with foul trouble after picking up three in the first half, finished with 11. Trewin scored 10.

Later in the first half, the Vikings went on another run, this time 18-4 to take a 27-13 lead into halftime.

Campbellsport (2-13, 1-8) was balanced offensively, for MacKenzie Helsell had 10, Kiera Laverenz had 9 and Brittany Reilly scored 6.

The Cougars' best spurt came in the second half when they forced WLA into turnovers and scored 7 straight points to tighten the game.

PHOTO GALLERY: Winnebago Lutheran at Campbellsport - 1/23/2025