July 19, 2025
Shaw Local
NewsSubscribePrep SportsObituariesFriday Night DriveeNewspaperLocal EventsShaw Local RadioStarved Rock Country

Mendota girls basketball preview: Lady Trojans look to replace Amellia Bromenschenkel

MHS has four players back with starting experience

By Kevin Chlum

Mendota's Jenna O'Donnell (No. 10) battles for a rebound during a game last season. O'Donnell is one of four players back with starting experience as the Lady Trojans look to replace two-time NewsTribune Girls Basketball Player of the Year Amellia Bromenschenkel. (Scott Anderson)

Not many teams ever have a void to fill as large as the one the Mendota girls basketball team is facing this season.

Two-time NewsTribune Girls Basketball Player of the Year Amellia Bromenschenkel, one of the best female players ever in the Illinois Valley, graduated MHS early to start her Division I career at Purdue-Fort Wayne.

Bromenschenkel set school records for points, rebounds and steals in a season as a junior, was on pace to break the school’s career scoring record and had a chance to top Hall great Kailey Klein as the area’s all-time leading female scorer.

“I’m excited to see how/who we see that can attempt to pick up the offensive load with the loss of Bromo,” Mendota coach John Hansen said.

To replace Bromenschenkel’s production, the Lady Trojans will look to four returning players who have starting experience in point guard Jenna O’Donnell, shooting guard Daisy Arteaga, center Jaelyn Fitzgerald and Izzy Nanez, who was the team’s sixth man last year.

O’Donnell averaged 3.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 steals per game last winter, while Arteaga contributed 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Fitzgerald averaged 3.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 26 games, and Nanez played 25 games last season as the Lady Trojans went 21-11 overall and 5-5 in the Big Northern Conference.

“O’Donnell and Arteaga both should really step up into scoring roles in Bromo’s absence,” Hansen said. “Fitz was on a nice roll around Christmas last season before she suffered a foot/ankle injury that she never fully made it back from. Nanez has really grown as a player and works hard at both ends for us.”

Paige Manning returns to the Lady Trojans after missing last season with a torn ACL, while Hansen also expects contributions from freshmen Karly Reel and Reanna Brant.

While Mendota won’t have Bromenschenkel to carry the load, the Lady Trojans will have plenty of size with two 6-foot-1 post players and four other players between 5-8 and 5-10.

“We will try to focus more on just kind of salvaging what we have left,” Hansen said about how MHS will approach the season differently with no postseason. “We want to get the little work we can for the freshman/JV, try to stay as fresh as we can and let the seniors get to enjoy what they have left.”