It was a rough weekend for the Mendota varsity boys’ basketball team as it was beaten by area rivals Princeton and LaSalle-Peru. The Trojans dropped to 7-11 overall and 1-1 in Three Rivers Conference play.

Princeton exploded out of the gate with a first-quarter offensive onslaught and held off a second-half Mendota rally for a 60-47 triumph in conference action on Jan. 5 at the MHS gym.

The Tigers burned the net for 23 points in the opening stanza with the help of three field goals from beyond the arc. Mendota managed just seven points in the first quarter. Princeton took a 31-19 advantage to the locker room.

The Trojans heated up in the third period and trimmed the Tiger lead to six (36-30), but that was as close as they could get. Princeton led 44-35 after three frames and then pulled away in the fourth.

Izaiah Nanez had the hot hand for the Trojans with 28 points. He scored 11 markers in the third quarter when Mendota made its comeback. Cale Strouss chipped in with 10 tallies for the Trojans. Noah LaPorte led three Tigers in double digits with 22 points.

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The third time wasn’t the charm for Mendota against L-P as the Cavaliers rolled up a 75-43 victory over the Trojans on Jan. 6 at LaSalle. Previously, L-P handled Mendota in the Hall Colmone Classic and the Plano Christmas Classic.

The Cavaliers doubled up the score on Mendota after the first quarter, 22-11, and they led 39-22 at the break. The Trojans made it a 14-point game (52-38) heading to the final frame, but they were outscored, 23-5, over the final eight minutes.

Strouss and Nanez had 14 points apiece for Mendota. Strouss connected on four three-pointers.