Mendota uses big third quarter to pull away from Hall

MENDOTA – Close games can often be decided in the first few minutes of a half.

That was the case Friday night as Mendota dominated the third quarter of the Three Rivers Conference East Division contest against Hall as the Trojans came away with a 75-57 victory.

The Trojans led a tightly fought contest 35-32 coming out of the break and quickly began to make their move as the Red Devils were struggling with turnovers.

The passing of Cam Kelly and Dane Doyle was on full display as Kelly found Doyle early on in the third for a layup and moments after that, Aden Tillman drained a 3-pointer as the Trojans' lead grew to 42-34.

Cole Tillman then picked up a pair of layups on passes from Kelly and Doyle and Aden Tillman again drained a long-range shot as Mendota’s lead ballooned to 52-39 after Kelly added a 3-pointer of his own.

“I didn’t think our defensive intensity was that good in the first half,” Mendota coach Steve Wasmer said. “We came out in the third quarter and forced some turnovers and then started hitting some shots. I cannot say enough about the passing of Cam Kelly and Dane Doyle as well as their scoring. Just a much better all-around effort in the third.”

After a Hall timeout, Cole Tillman used an up-and-under move to push the lead to 54-39.

Jack Jablonski drove to the hoop for a Hall bucket, but the Trojans responded right away as Doyle hit a shot behind the arc as Mendota turned a three-point halftime lead into a 59-41 edge heading into the fourth quarter.

“The third quarter is exactly what we just told the kids,” Hall coach Mike Filippini said. “Look at the rest of the game and it was a one- or two-possession game the entire way. We had a few too many turnovers and Mendota got hot from the floor, but to be honest, I was very happy with the effort of my guys tonight. We just had one bad quarter that was the difference.”

Hall returned to form in the fourth as it caused some Mendota turnovers and turned them into buckets at the offensive end.

Braden Curran hit a pair of jumpers and Noah Plym nailed a pull-up jumper as well, cutting the deficit to 60-49.

But as they were in the first half, the teams were even trading buckets. Alex Beetz got a putback for Mendota and Cole Tillman converted a beautiful spin move in the lane to push the lead to 68-53.

Kelly then hit a bucket and was fouled before Doyle found Beetz with a nice pass as the Trojans came away with the 75-57 victory.

In the first half, neither team led by more than six points.

Jablonski found Luke Bryant for a 3-pointer to tie the game at 10 and then Wyatt West hit the pull-up jumper before Mendota tied the game at 16 with a Kelly 3-pointer.

Hall led 18-16 to start the second and extended the lead to 21-16 with a 3-pointer from Plym. The Red Devils then took their biggest lead at 26-20 with a Curran hook shot over Cole Tillman.

Mendota finished the half strong as Cole Tillman got a steal and layup and then Johan Cortez gave the Trojans the lead at 27-26 with a shot behind the arc.

West made an off-balance shot as Hall regained the lead briefly, but the Trojans closed with a 3-pointer from Kelly and a short jumper from Cole Tillman as Mendota led 35-32 at the break.

Cole Tillman led all scorers with 21 points, while Kelly added 15, Doyle 12 and Aden Tillman 10.

Hall had two in double figures with Curran with 18 and West with 17.