OREGON – The Mendota Lady Trojans began the 2021-22 basketball season with a narrow 41-40 loss to Ashton-Franklin Center in the Oregon Tipoff Tournament on Nov. 17.
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OREGON – The Mendota Lady Trojans began the 2021-22 basketball season with a narrow 41-40 loss to Ashton-Franklin Center in the Oregon Tipoff Tournament on Nov. 17.
The Lady Trojans trailed 8-5 after the opening stanza and then put up just five points in the second period compared to 14 for AFC to fall behind 22-10 at halftime.
The second half was a different story for Mendota as it heated up in the third quarter and outscored the Lady Raiders, 17-7, to climb to within two points heading to the fourth. But the Lady Trojans couldn’t complete the comeback as it missed on many good scoring opportunities in the final frame.
One area that was costly to Mendota was at the free throw line, where it converted on just 13 of 25 chances.
“We have to finish scoring chances and shoot better at the line, but I’m extremely proud of our effort in the second half,” said Mendota coach John Hansen. “This is definitely one we’ll look back on as a ‘should’ve been’ game.”
Reanna Brant paced the Lady Trojans with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Thirteen of her tallies came in the second half. Katie Jenner added 10 points and six rebounds, while Paige Manning had six caroms, three assists and two steals.
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Mendota dropped a 40-12 decision to former Big Northern foe Genoa-Kingston in the second round of the tournament on Nov. 18.
Genoa-Kingston owned a 14-6 advantage at the end of one, and then it scored another 14 points in the second period and held Mendota to just a basket to take a 28-8 halftime lead.
“We executed very poorly offensively and we know that wasn’t us, and I honestly think it was a nice wake up and we’ll learn and move on,” said Hansen.
Isabella Tolentino and Naitzy Garcia had four points apiece for Mendota, while Garcia led with six rebounds and Jenner had three steals.
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West Carroll rode a strong first half to a 42-22 verdict over Mendota in Nov. 20 action at the tournament.
The Thunder zoomed out to an 18-2 lead after the first quarter and Mendota never could catch up. The Lady Trojans managed only one point in the second period and trailed 29-3 at the half.
“We executed way better in the second half and looked like a basketball team,” said Hansen. “I love our effort, we just need to execute a whole lot better. The desire to get better is there.”
Garcia topped the team with eight points and eight rebounds. Emily Stewart chipped in with seven markers, while Brant handled seven rebounds and Aliza Salinas grabbed five caroms.
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Mendota got in the win column in the tournament when it took a forfeit victory over Milledgeville.
