AMBOY – The Mendota Lady Trojans dropped four games and finished in eighth place in the Amboy Holiday Tournament.

Serena 63, Mendota 25

Mendota opened the tournament with a 63-25 loss to Serena on Dec. 27.

Serena zoomed out to a 17-5 lead after the opening eight-minute session and never looked back. The Lady Huskers increased the margin to 36-11 at intermission and 55-19 after three quarters.

“We actually played okay in the half-court at both ends when we got the chance,” said Mendota coach John Hansen. “Give credit to a really solid Serena team that ran a really tough press and did a great job in transition.”

Paige Manning and Reanna Brant topped the scoring chart for Mendota with six points apiece. Brant also led with 10 rebounds, while Manning and Isabella Tolentino hauled down five boards apiece. Tolentino led with three assists.

Amboy 47, Mendota 16

Mendota’s offense sputtered in a 47-16 loss to Amboy on Dec. 28.

The Lady Trojans were outscored 18-2 in the first quarter as Olivia Dinges pumped in 12 points for the Lady Clippers. Amboy took a 27-7 advantage to the locker room and held a 33-14 lead heading to the fourth frame.

“Credit Amboy, who moved the ball really well and did a great job not giving us much room to work on offense,” stated Hansen. “We didn’t get enough shots up to win this game if we shot 100 percent.”

Brant paced the Lady Trojans with nine points and nine rebounds. Manning collected six rebounds and had three steals. Dinges finished with 18 points to lead Amboy, while Elly Jones supplied nine markers.

Marquette 57, Mendota 24

Mendota put together a strong first quarter, but couldn’t sustain it over the remainder of the game and fell to Ottawa Marquette, 57-24, in the final day of pool play on Dec. 29.

The Lady Trojans raced out to an 11-4 lead, but Marquette closed out the first quarter on a 12-1 run to take a lead it never relinquished. The count stood at 33-15 at halftime. After tallying 12 first-quarter points, Mendota was only able to muster 12 more points the rest of the game.

“We played our best quarter of the season and looked great at both ends of the floor, but the momentum turned and we didn’t find the basket for a while,” said Hansen.

Brant’s eight points and 14 rebounds were highs for Mendota. Manning pulled down 11 rebounds and had four steals.

Roanoke-Benson 41, Mendota 30

The Lady Trojans fell to Roanoke-Benson, 41-30, in the seventh-place game on Dec. 30. Mendota (1-12) trailed 20-9 at the half.

Brant led the squad with 13 points and seven rebounds. Kya Delao and Emily Stewart provided five points apiece, while Katie Jenner recorded four steals.