Seneca recovers, hangs on to defeat Mendota

SENECA – For the first four minutes of the first quarter of its season opener against Mendota at the Seneca Turkey Tournament on Monday, the Seneca boys basketball team looked exactly like the flustered, young and inexperienced team that it is.

But for the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Fighting Irish looked like the veteran, cool game finishers they’re not.

The Fighting Irish found themselves down nine points in that frantic first half-quarter, but took advantage of the Trojans’ cold shooting and turnovers to build a 16-point advantage late in the third quarter.

That lead quickly dissipated in the final quarter under increasing pressure from Mendota’s aggressive defense.

The Trojans got within two points on a bucket by Rafa Romero with 51.8 seconds to go.

That’s when Seneca’s Zach Pfeifer stepped up with a clutch free throw and, after missing the second toss, stole the ball and laid it in to widen the lead back to five to help the Irish to a 46-40 victory.

Pfeifer finished with a team-best 18 points, and freshman Paxton Giertz added 10 to pace the Irish, who survived despite being outrebounded, 34-32, and committing 27 turnovers

Tops for Mendota was Krew Bond with 19 points, nine of those in the first quarter and six down the stretch to help MHS climb back in it. Izaiah Nanez contributed 12 points and Romero added seven points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Also on Monday, in the tournament opener, Herscher defeated Hall, 50-37, then Somonauk earned a running clock 65-40 victory over St. Anne.

Both Seneca and Mendota are off Tuesday, a night in which the slate boasts Newark vs. Reed-Custer at 5 p.m. followed by Hall against Somonauk at 6:30 and Herscher playing St. Anne at 8.

“We just needed to take a deep breath,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said. “We settled down at about the four-minute mark of the first … Then for two, 2 1/2 quarters, we controlled every aspect of the game. Noah and Zach hit some big shots to help us get a lead, but then in the fourth, they hit a shot, we started turning the ball over and doing some uncharacteristic things team-wise and the next thing you know, it’s a game. We handed them way too much tonight, but fortunately, we got some stops and made some free throws to close it out.

“We’re just young and we’re going to see peaks and valleys and we saw a lot of those just in one game tonight, but we were able to finish things off and get the win.

A deuce and a 3-pointer from Bond led Mendota to a 9-0 edge, but a change in defense helped turn the tide and by the end of the first quarter, it was 12-10 Trojans. While MHS went cold from the field in the middle two periods (a combined 4 of 23), the balanced Irish got three huge treys from Pfeifer, the last with 3.3 seconds left in the half to put Seneca on top, 25-18.

That advantage ballooned to 36-20 on a deuce in the lane by Braden Ellis with 1:31 showing in the third.

Mendota’s pressure then took hold, forcing five Irish turnovers in the first 3:45 of the final period and 10 miscues in that stanza alone. That big basket by Romero got the deficit down to two, but Pfeifer made his first toss with 44.4 seconds left, then atoned for missing the second by converting a steal just seven seconds later.

“We came out and looked good, but when they went to that 1-3-1 zone, that kind of slowed us down a bit,” Mendota coach Steve Hanson said. “We haven’t had the time to work on stuff like that … But I thought we played really hard, really, really hard. We were down 16 and got it down to two and had a chance to tie it a couple of times, but we just couldn’t get there.

“I said before the game I didn’t know what to expect from this team, but we can live with an effort like this. We’re proud of them. Hopefully, we’ll just shoot better next time.”

Herscher 50, Hall 37

The Tigers forced 21 Hall turnovers in the victory and rode 13 points each from Trey Schwartzkopf and Joe Holohan to the win.

For the Red Devils, who trailed 16-9 after one quarter, Drake Garland popped in 14 points and Mac Resetich added 13.

Somonauk 65, St. Anne 40

Alex Krejci scored a game-best 21 points and Brock Zimmerman chipped in 16 as the Bobcats blitzed the Cardinals, 24-6, in the first quarter and took a 35-14 lead at the half.

Tops for St. Anne were Adrian Chagoya with 14 points and Jordan Davis with 10.