Mendota makes hay against Princeton

PRINCETON - Steve Wasmer knows his Mendota Trojans are catching Princeton at a good time.

They have faced the Tigers twice in seven days and twice defeated them without their big man, Noah LaPorte, who has been out with a foot injury.

On Friday, the Trojans spoiled Princeton’s home opener in front of a big crowd at Prouty Gym, defeating the Tigers 60-52.

Senior guard Jayden Fulkerson had a seat next to both Noah and Luke LaPorte in the injured corner of the Tiger bench with a foot injury of his own.

Mendota also beat Princeton 58-56 on Dec. 14 in the Colmone Classic at Hall High School.

“They played really hard and Jason (Smith) had them prepared. When you lose an all-stater (Noah LaPorte) it would be easy to lose your team, but those guys still played their butts off,” Wasmer said. “Princeton is getting some good experience for their guys without LaPorte. That will make them all that much better when he gets back. They are going to be a load because of that.”

LaPorte was hopeful to play Friday, but was not cleared. PHS senior guard Jordan Reinhardt, who scored a team-high 18 points, said the Tigers' just have to hold the fort until they get everyone back.

“With these injuries it’s a struggle, but yeah, we wanted this one bad, especially because it was the home opener,” he said. “We’ve just got to run ’50′ and be basketball players, not be athletes, and just play basketball. I think we know we’ve got to step up and score a little bit more.

“They’ll be back soon. We’re just waiting for Noah to be cleared soon and I think Jayden may be back by this next game on Dec. 26. We’re missing Luke LaPorte, too. Once we get them back, I think we’ll be just fine.”

It was just a one-point game after Reinhardt scored on a drive to make it 44-43 early in the fourth quarter. The Trojans went on a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 11, helped by treys by Aden Tillman and Cam Kelly and a runout by Cole Tillman.

Mendota (6-5) stretched its lead to as much as 15 points at 60-45 to coast to its Three Rivers East opening win.

“I thought we had a good stretch late third/early fourth to get a little breathing room,” Wasmer said. “We finally started making some shots. We’ve had a tough stretch shooting and we have some really good shooters, so I knew eventually they were going to start falling if we kept getting good looks.”

Princeton coach Jason Smith said the simple mathematics of the Trojans knocking down 11 3-pointers was too much to overcome.

“The effort was great. Execution was better,” he said. “We have to take care of the ball better. However, we battled and I love the way we battle. At the end of the day, 3s are worth more than two. They made a lot more than we did.”

Aden Tillman hit four 3-pointers on the way to scoring 13 points, Kelly had three 3-pointers while scoring 12 points, Dane Doyle made two 3s and had nine points total while the freshman Cole Tillman led the Trojans with 18 points, including one trey.

“Cam Kelly was really good. We kind of come and go as he does, and he made some really good decisions at the end with the ball,“ Wasmer said. ”It’s good to be 1-0 in conference.”

Reinhardt scored Princeton’s first three baskets of the night and hit two free throws on the back end to stake the Tigers' to a 17-14 lead at quarter’s end. Asa Gartin had a 3-pointer as the Tigers scored 11 of the last 14 points in the first quarter.

Reinhardt picked up in third quarter where he left off in the first with seven points, including a scoop basket off a drive and a layup on an assist by Jackson Mason to tie the game at 38.

Mason scored on a cut to the basket and pass from Gavin Lanham and converted the three-point play from the charity stripe to give the Tigers a short-lived 41-40 lead.

Mendota came back with a drive by Cole Tillman and two free throws by Kelly with two seconds left in the third quarter for a 44-41 lead.

Gartin chipped in eight points for the Tigers.

Princeton (3-7, 0-1) will be idle until after Christmas, meeting East Dubuque on Dec. 26 at Sherrard.

Mendota plays La Salle-Peru in the first round of the Plano Christmas Classic on Monday.

Notes: PHS held a moment of silence before tip-off to pay tribute to Tiger fans and dads Beau Harp and David Camp, who passed away recently. Harp’s daughter Ellie is a senior cheerleader.