Cam Kelly, Mendota use fourth-quarter surge to top Ottawa

OTTAWA – With Mendota holding a four-point lead over Ottawa with six minutes remaining and leading scorer Cole Tillman going to the bench with four fouls, Trojans senior Cam Kelly gave his squad a huge lift.

Kelly was the key in a 9-0 Mendota run over the next three and a half minutes, scoring on a pair of layups and sinking a trio of free throws as the visitors eventually earned a 61-48 victory at Kingman Gym on Tuesday night.

“I feel like I have to step up every game, but yeah, with Cole going out I wanted to kick it up a notch,” said Kelly, who finished with seven points, six assists and two steals. “I think we all thought that. Not that it was bad the first three quarters, but it felt like we pushed up our defensive intensity in the fourth quarter. It also felt like we were able to get out in transition more and more as the game went along.”

Cole Tillman led Mendota (10-6) with a game-high 18 points, followed by 14 points and seven rebounds from Aden Tillman, plus 12 points and five rebounds from Braiden Freeman. Dane Doyle added six points, six rebounds and seven assists. The Trojans ended the night hitting 24 of 46 (52%), including 15 of 20 (75%) in the final two quarters.

“Cam is unquestionably the leader of this team, and like I’ve said before this season, we go as a team as Cam goes,” Mendota coach Steve Wasmer said. “He does so many things that won’t show up on a scoresheet. He did that tonight, and when he plays like he played I feel we are a tough team to beat.

“Braiden Freeman, I thought, did a great job on (Owen) Sanders despite giving up five or six inches. Braiden just battled him all game long and made him earn what he got.

“This was a nice win for us to start the second half of the season.”

In what was a back-and-forth battle through three quarters, Mendota led 8-6 after one, trailed 21-20 at halftime and held a 36-35 advantage heading to the final eight minutes.

Consecutive hoops by Sanders and Aric Threadgill put the hosts up 39-36 in the opening minute of the fourth. Mendota countered with a pair of hoops from Freeman and a 3-pointer by Aden Tillman to retake the lead 43-39.

Ottawa’s Hezekiah Joachim’s drive at the 5:39 mark was followed by the aforementioned burst by the Trojans.

Threadgill led Ottawa (6-6) with 15 points, including three treys, while Joachim had 11 points and seven assists. Kyler Araujo and Sanders added eight points each for the Pirates, who finished 20 of 41 (49%) from the field and lost the turnover battle 15-8.

“We weren’t able to get the stops we needed in the fourth quarter. Credit Mendota for some of that, but we also didn’t guard as well or help as well as we needed to in the final five minutes of the game,” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said. “In competitive games like tonight, getting stops in the final minutes is going to be the key to winning or losing.

“We are capable of being a better defensive team, and we aren’t as sharp as we need to be on the offensive end. We are capable, and we aren’t that far off, but we just haven’t been able to turn the corner and take that next step the last couple of weeks.”

Both teams are back in action Friday when Ottawa hosts La Salle-Peru in an Interstate 8 Conference game, while Mendota in on the road at Erie-Prophetstown in a Three Rivers East Division matchup.