Bluejackets lose conference matchup to neighboring Orleans

By Noah Dalton for WBIW.com

Mitchell High School made the short trip down the road to Orleans on Tuesday to take on the Bulldogs in the team’s third Patoka Athletic Lake Conference matchup of the season.

Entering the game with an even 1-1 record in conference play, the Bluejackets held a PLAC victory over Crawford County, with their lone conference loss coming in a thrilling season opener to Springs Valley.
Both of those games were down to the wire, with each one coming down to the final possession. The same could not be said for Tuesday’s game in Orleans, which saw Mitchell fall by a large margin of 66-34.

During the first quarter +the Bulldogs started things off hot, going on a 10-0 at one point in the period before finishing it ahead of the Bluejackets leading 20-10. Junior Xavier Alston led all scorers in the first with 7, shooting a perfect 3/3 from the field and making his only free throw attempt.
Mitchell’s Dawson Irwin and Kale England both netted triples in the quarter to lead the team’s scorers with three points. Austin Mosier and Brendan Tolliver added field goals as the team’s only other scorers in the quarter.

Orleans continued to find the bottom of the net, scoring 18 in the second. After shooting a blistering 69% from the field in the first, the Bulldogs efficiency declined but the team remained at a steady 50% shooting. On the flipside, the Bluejackets were only able to shoot 30% from the floor in the second, with baskets from Tolliver, Ben Seitzinger and Gavin Robinson.

Entering halftime, Mitchell trailed 38-19 and despite some poor first half shooting, the team’s play on defense was perhaps their biggest issue, allowing Orleans to score nearly 40 in the first 16 minutes of play on a field goal percentage of 56%, while not forcing them to turn the ball over a single time. Even on a night where the shots are falling, numbers like that would have created trouble for the Bluejackets.

Additionally, Mitchell found themselves in foul trouble in the first half, having put the Bulldogs into the bonus after committing seven team fouls in the half.

Much of the same continued in the third, with Orleans once again outscoring Mitchell, while connecting on the majority of their field goal attempts and not turning the ball over.

The Bulldogs once again managed to shoot 50% from the field in the quarter, scoring 17 without giving up their first turnover of the game to this point.

Mitchell’s offensive struggles continued in the third, with the team scoring just six points in the period, shooting 37% on just eight field goal attempts. Mosier, Seitzinger and Irwin each added knocked one down for the Bluejackets in the period.

Mitchell’s defense forced the worst offensive period of the game from Orleans in the fourth quarter, forcing three turnovers and holding them to just 11 points in the period, though the team still managed to hit the 50% shooting mark for the quarter.

As they entered the quarter down 31, it would have taken a Herculean effort from the Bluejackets to capitalize off their of improved defensive play to complete some sort of a comeback for the win.

They scored 10 in the quarter, once again shooting around 30% from the floor, on their way to the second conference loss of the year.

The leading scorer on the night for Mitchell was Irwin, who finished the game with nine points. Mosier and Tolliver were not far behind him, each finishing with eight.

Orleans was led by Alston, who ended the night with 14 points on a perfect 4/4 from the field and 5/5 from the free-throw line, while also pulling down eight boards and Ian Hall, who finished with 14 points to lead all scorers.

This loss brings Mitchell’s record on the season to 2-7, with a 1-2 PLAC record. Their next time taking the floor will be in Clay City, when they take park in the Clay City Classic tournament.

Their first round matchup against the tournament hosting Eeels will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 27.

They will play three games total regarding of the results during the event, with the others taking place over the following few days.

Other teams competing in the tournament are North Vermillion, Whiteland, Tri-West, North Central (Farmersburg), Riverton Parke and Owen Valley.

Stats

Mitchell

• Dawson Irwin – 9 points, 3/6 shooting, 2/2 FT, 2 rebounds
• Austin Mosier – 8 points, 4/10 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
• Ben Seitzinger – 4 points, 2/6 shooting, 0/2 FT, 2 rebounds
• Kale England – 3 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
• Brendan Tolliver – 8 points, 3/8 shooting, 2/3 FT, 2 rebounds
• Austin Pridemore – 0 points, 0/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
• Bryson Shoults – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
• Dawson Snow – 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
• Owen Modglin – 0 points, 0/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds

Orleans

• Hunter Williams – 2 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
• Bryce Berning – 3 points, 1/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
• Blake Love – 5 points, 2/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
• Carter Allen – 8 points, 4/9 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
• Gage Dixon – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
• Ian Hall – 14 points, 5/11 shooting, 1/2 FT, 3 rebounds
• Conner Elrod – 2 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
• Xavier Alston – 13 points, 4/4 shooting, 5/5 FT, 8 rebounds
• Jackson Freed – 2 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
• Nate Graves – 4 points, 2/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
• Ryland Crocker – 5 points, 2/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
• Bryce Jones – 8 points, 4/9 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound