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The 2023-24 Appleton North High School boys basketball team. (Submitted photo)
Appleton North

Fond du Lac sends Appleton North boys basketball to its first loss

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AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – The Appleton North boys basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, dropping a 63-60 decision to Fond du Lac in a Fox Valley Association game Tuesday night at North High School.

The Lightning led 21-20 after a sluggish first half, before Fond du Lac put up 43 points in the second half and held on at the end. The Cardinals opened up a six-point lead late before a 3-pointer in the final seconds by North closed the gap to three, but it was too late.

Will Sweeney had 14 points, and Abraham Tomori had 11 points and six rebounds to lead Appleton North, which falls to 9-1 after reaching No. 2 in this week’s Wissports.net Division 1 state coaches poll.

With the loss the Lightning falls into a three-way tie for first place in the FVA with Oshkosh North and Kaukauna at 5-1.

Eli Zimerman was 5-for-6 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 20 points for Fond du Lac. The Cardinals are now 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the FVA.

Appleton North returns to action Thursday with a nonconference home game against Bay Port.

Cardinals 63, Lightning 60
Fond du Lac   20   43   –    63
Appleton North   21   39   –   60
FOND DU LAC (63): Zavion Davis 1-3 0-0 3, Eli Zimerman 5-6 5-6 20, Travion Pate 0-1 0-0 0, Marvin Haslett III 4-6 2-2 10, Conor Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Eli Braatz 2-4 5-9 10, Tyler Dickmann 0-0 0-0 0, Rocky Barfknecht 4-11 2-2 12, Ryker Johnson 3-6 1-5 8. FG: 19-37. FT: 15-24. 3-pointers: 10-19 (Zimerman 5-6, Barfknecht 2-6, R. Johnson 1-1, Braatz 1-2, Davis 1-2, Pate 0-1, Haslett III 0-1). Rebounds: 36 (Braatz 8, Barfknecht 8). Record: 6-4, 4-2 Fox Valley Association.
APPLETON NORTH (60): Will Sweeney 4-9 5-7 14, Nathan Ramus 2-10 0-0 6, Grant Hardy 3-6 0-0 9, Sean Hansen 4-10 1-5 9, Luke Kritzer 1-4 0-1 2, Will Guilbeault 2-2 0-0 4, Abraham Tomori 4-6 0-0 11, Ben Zdzieblowski 2-5 1-2 5. FG: 22-52. FT: 7-15. 3-pointers: 9-25 (Tomari 3-4, Hardy 3-6, Ramus 2-8, Sweeney 1-1, Zdzieblowski 0-1, Kritzer 0-2, Hansen 0-3). Rebounds: 24 (Ramus 6, Tomari 6). Record: 9-1, 5-1 Fox Valley Association.