SENECA – A big fourth-quarter comeback came up short for Mendota in a 46-40 loss to Seneca in the first round of the Seneca Turkey Tournament on Nov. 22.

The Trojans owned a 12-10 lead after the opening stanza, but Seneca outscored Mendota, 15-6, in the second period to take a 25-18 halftime lead. Seneca kept building on its advantage in the third frame and led 36-20 before Krew Bond knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to make it 36-23 heading to the fourth.

In the final session, the Trojans scored 14 of the first 17 points in the quarter to cut the deficit down to two with 1:20 left in the game, but they couldn’t get any closer as Seneca held on for the win.

Bond paced the Mendota scoring attack with 19 points, while Izaiah Nanez dropped in 12 tallies. Rafael Romero chipped in with seven points and led with 15 rebounds.

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Mendota dropped a 69-50 decision to Reed-Custer on Nov. 24.

Reed-Custer scored the first nine points of the game and the Trojans never recovered.

Bond led the scoring chart with 16 points, followed by Romero with 12 and Nanez with 10.

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Mendota did not participate in the tournament on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 due to COVID-related issues.

Also, Mendota did not play Earlville on Nov. 30 and will not play at St. Bede on Dec. 3. Those games are being rescheduled.