Still missing players due to illness, the Mendota Lady Trojans came up short in a 41-23 loss to Hall in Three Rivers Conference action on Jan. 20 at Spring Valley.

Mendota played without its two post players, Reanna Brant and Naitzy Garcia, and Hall was able to exploit that by winning the battle on the glass and consequently converting shots from close range.

“A majority of Hall’s buckets were put-backs and that obviously hurt,” said Mendota coach John Hansen. “And them shooting 16 free throws to our two didn’t help.”

Mendota had a strong first quarter with nine points and trailed by just three (12-9) heading to the second period, but Hall scored 13 second-quarter points behind a pair of three-pointers and the Lady Trojans managed only four tallies.

Mendota outscored the home team 8-6 in the third, but then followed that up with just two points in the final frame.

Paige Manning led the Lady Trojans with eight points and six steals. Isabella Tolentino provided six points, while Natalie Bodmer had five points and six rebounds. Katie Jenner topped the team with seven caroms and Kya Delao collected five steals.

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St. Bede posted a 53-27 triumph over the Lady Trojans in a conference game on Jan. 24 at Peru.

The home team jumped out to a 16-7 first-quarter lead and then dropped in 22 points in the second period to take a commanding 38-17 lead to the locker room.

“We hit a rough patch at both ends of the court and when we got it together in was way too late,” noted Hansen.

Manning’s 10 points paced Mendota, while Naitzy Garcia had five rebounds.

Mendota fell to 2-17 overall and 1-6 in league games.