Mendota hangs on to win rematch with La Salle-Peru

MENDOTA - After losing to La Salle-Peru by three points in the first round of the Plano Christmas Classic on Dec. 23, the Mendota boys basketball team was looking forward to Saturday’s rematch.

Following a tight first quarter, the Trojans took the lead less than 3 minutes into the second, built a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter and hung on down the stretch to win the nonconference game 60-58.

“I thought our energy from start to finish was phenomenal,” Mendota coach Steve Wasmer said. “We had a close game with them in Plano that went their way, so we knew we could play with them. We’ve been playing a little better, so our guys were excited to get an opportunity to play them again. We hung on. We made a lot of mistakes at the end, but it’s better to learn from a win than a loss.”

The Trojans have not lost since falling to the Cavaliers in Plano with Saturday’s win extending their streak to six games.

“We haven’t beat L-P in I don’t know how long,” Mendota freshman Cole Tillman said. “Coming in with a five-game win streak and making it six today keeps our momentum going.

“We’re competing as a team. We’re keeping our hopes high. We want to just build momentum for the postseason.”

Tillman said better rebounding was the key to changing the outcome against L-P.

The Trojans had 11 multi-shot possessions on Saturday to the Cavs’ five, while Mendota scored 12 second-chance points to L-P’s eight.

“We got killed on the boards up in Plano and today we definitely harped on it a lot,” Tillman said.

The Cavs led 16-15 after the first quarter before the lead changed three times early in the second with a driving basket by Alex Beetz giving Mendota the lead for good at 19-18 with 5:19 left before halftime.

The Trojans held a 27-23 lead at the break before outscoring L-P 17-9 in the third quarter.

Cam Kelly drained a 3-pointer less than a minute into the third quarter for a 30-23 lead. He knocked down one more while Aden Tillman also sank one in the quarter.

“I thought we were attacking and kicking, so it wasn’t just passing around the perimeter,” Wasmer said. “We were getting it in the paint and then had kickouts and I always tell the guys the basketball gods want those to go in when you go inside-out as opposed to two passes and chuck. We moved the ball really well in the third quarter. It was probably the best our offense has been all year.”

Cole Tillman drove for a basket to give the Trojans a 46-32 lead - their largest of the night - with 7:10 left.

“We shared the ball,” Cole Tillman said. “We were going drive and kick. That’s how we want to do it. The shots weren’t going at the beginning, but we did get them to start falling and it gave us a big lead.”

But the Cavs put together a rally.

L-P scored on seven consecutive possessions, including two 3s by Marion Persich and one by Erick Sotelo, to cut it to 57-53 with 1:30 left.

“I did not think we played very well the first three quarters,” L-P coach John Senica said. “The kids finally picked it up and they started to actually play defense and look what happened. (Our offense down the stretch) was just from our defense. Us playing defense always leads to points.”

Mendota made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:44 and led 59-53 with 40.4 seconds left, but still the Cavs had a chance to tie late.

Nick Olivero drained a 3 with 9.9 seconds left and L-P called timeout.

Out of the break, L-P’s Mikey Hartman stole the ball and passed to Persich. The freshman fired a pass to an open teammate under the basket but a shot wasn’t put up.

After a scramble the ball ended up in Mendota’s hands and the Trojans ran out the clock.

“It comes down to finishing games,” Senica said. “We finished one (Friday) in Ottawa. I told the kids that’s our goal this new year is to finsh games. This is a prime example. We have to work on finishing games.”

Cole Tillman said the Trojans also need to work on finishing games. Mendota turned the ball over four times in the final 4 minutes.

“We turned the ball over and we got out of sorts,” Cole Tillman said. “They made some good shots and got downhill. We just need to keep our composure a little better.”

Tillman paced Mendota (12-6) with 18 points, while Kelly had 13 points and Aden Tillman and Dane Doyle each added nine points.

Persich led L-P (8-10) with 21 points, while Olivero scored 20.