PRINCETON – The Mendota Lady Trojans started the 2024-25 season with one win in four games in the Princeton Thanksgiving Tournament.

Mendota opened up on a winning note with a 56-13 thrashing of Low Point-Washburn on Nov. 18.

The Lady Trojans led 14-7 after the first quarter, but then turned up the heat in the second period and outscored Low Point, 21-2, to take a 35-9 advantage to halftime. Mendota added 18 second-half points, while the Wildcats had just four points over the final two frames, including none in the fourth.

“Our energy on defense was awesome and it was a great confidence builder to start the year,” said Mendota coach John Hansen.

Crystal Garcia and Laylie Denault led the point production for Mendota with 11 apiece, while Ella Coss added eight markers. Garcia and Cassie Gonzalez topped the team with seven and six rebounds. The Lady Trojans collected an amazing 33 steals with Garcia and Ella Martin swiping seven apiece and Ava Eddy getting six.

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Mendota dropped its second-round match-up to Midland, 65-38, on Nov. 19.

The Timberwolves doubled the score on Mendota at halftime, 28-14, and then kept building their lead in the second half, outscoring the Lady Trojans, 37-24.

“We started the game with four straight steals and four straight missed layups,” noted Hansen. “We played really well, but just shot poorly around the paint.”

Eddy fired in three three-pointers on her way to a 17-point night for Mendota. Denault and Gonzalez chipped in with nine and eight tallies, respectively. Gonzalez led with eight caroms and Eddy had nine steals.

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Putnam County handed Mendota a 47-38 setback in the third round on Nov. 21.

The Lady Trojans fell behind 23-11 at the break and remained around the 10-point deficit mark throughout the remainder of the contest.

“We got beat getting back on the press, which we know can’t happen,” said Hansen. “Offensively, we were just too hesitant against their two-three defense.”

Eddy pumped in 13 points and Martin provided 10 tallies to pace Mendota’s offense. Martin topped the rebounding chart with five and Eddy came up with four steals.

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Mendota closed out the tournament with a 53-28 loss to Chillicothe IVC on Nov 22.

After trailing by just four (12-8) at the conclusion of the opening stanza, the Lady Trojans were staring up at a 30-15 deficit heading to the locker room. A two-point third quarter by Mendota compared to 13 by IVC allowed the Lady Ghosts to open up a 43-17 cushion with just one quarter left to play.

“This was easily the best team we played,” stated Hansen. “We actually came out with awesome energy and shocked them a little, but ultimately their physicality was too much for us.”

Garcia had seven points and seven rebounds to pace the squad, while Kennedy Knaff dropped in six points and Eddy came away with five steals.

(Final standings: 1^st Midland; 2^nd Princeton; 3^rd Hall; 4^th Chillicothe IVC; 5^th Putnam County; 6^th Mendota; 7^th Stark County; 8^th Henry; 9^th Low Point-Washburn)