By Noah Dalton
Heading in to Monday’s matchup against Shoals, Mitchell High School had lost their last six games, with their last win coming on Dec. 3 in a first round tournament matchup against Clay City.
During that streak, there were some close calls. A three-point loss to Rock Creek Academy in the finals of the previously mentioned tournament and a four-point loss to Princeton on Dec. 29.
Many of the losses during this streak came with the opposing team looking dominant over the Bluejackets, with their average point differential over those six games at -21.6 points per game.
Monday night was a bounce-back game for Mitchell, as they defeated the Jug Rox by 22 points, with a final score of 56-34.
“We had some competitive games up until then, and a couple that weren’t very competitive. But, I think after the Princeton game, I thought the kids, you know, some things started coming together for them,” Bluejackets head coach Tim Haworth said after the game.
The game against Princeton was the first look at a seemingly rejuvenated Bluejackets team. One that had made huge strides defensively, which carried over to Monday’s game against Shoals, where they were able to force 16 turnovers, while only giving the ball away eight times themselves.
Following the team’s 34 point loss to Eastern (Pekin), Haworth and the coaching staff held a meeting with the players, where they reiterated playing with heart and enthusiasm, particularly on the defensive end of the floor, areas in which the team had lacked in some of their losses during that stretch.
That meeting seems to have made quite the difference given the Bluejackets’ performance in the last two games.
“Even with only six games left, these kids are still wanting to win, there’s a desire there. That’s what I like about them, there’s no quit in them,” Haworth said.
The players have also noticed a difference in the team’s performance in recent games.
“I feel like after that long talk, I think it really got into all of our heads that we do need to keep the effort, no matter what the score is, how good we’re doing, how bad we’re doing. I just feel like that definitely gave us a little energy to go,” said guard Malaya Tanglao.
Their defensive efforts were on full display in the first quarter against the Jug Rox, where Mitchell initiated an early full court press defensive, which allowed them to force five turnovers and hold them to just eight points in the period.
“I think communication is honestly a really big part of defense and I think we talked more as a team and knew where everyone was cutting, knew where the cutters were going. Our press is what really got us a lot of those turnovers because we were talking a lot,” guard Mylea Slone said of the team’s performance after the game.
“Talking was definitely key for us this game for our defense. Since we were in the zone, we just kept talking to each other, like where the girls were going, who had who and it worked really well,” forward Brooklyn Peterson noted about the team’s efforts on the night.
It was not only defensively that the Bluejackets had a leg up on Shoals early on. Offensively, the team showed a balanced attack, scoring 17 in the first, with Slone contributing seven points, Peterson scoring four, Jillian Bond adding four and Briley Dicks scoring two.
Much of the same continued in the second quarter, with Mitchell working to extend their lead through the period, finished the half leading by 15.
They were largely able to take such a commanding lead in the first half due to the shooting disparity between the two sides, which was a product of the previously mentioned defensive pressure. The Bluejackets shot 40% on 30 attempts, while they also made it to the free throw line for nine attempts. The Jug Rox shot 36% from the field on only 19 attempts, while not making it to the free-throw line a single time in the half.
Peterson noted her team’s strong start when discussing their performance afterwards.
“I think we had a better start to this game than we’ve had in other games. Like, whenever we first started, we came out and competed and didn’t stop throughout the game. Other games in the past, we’ve given up, but I liked how we just kept fight,” she said.
Just as Peterson said, they did not stop throughout the game. Mitchell kept their foot on the gas in the third, scoring another 17 points as a team, as their defensive pressure continued to stifle Shoals, holding them to just six points in the quarter.
Haworth said the press had been something the team had worked in practice in the week since their last game and that happy with their execution come game time.
“I was really proud of everyone tonight, especially in that third quarter. We had talked about our press and we wanted to keep working on what we had been working on for the last week and I was really happy with the way they did that,” he said. “It was a good effort by all the girls, very proud of them,” Haworth continued.
Leading by 26 as they headed into the fourth, the Bluejackets finally began to slow a bit in on their way to victory, as they actually were outscored in the fourth quarter by the Jug Rox 14-10 in the period. It was an impressive display from a courageous Shoals team, who had only six players able to play in Monday’s game, yet continued to battle despite the large deficit.
After the game, both Slone and Tanglao noted the team’s selflessness on offense as a key to their success in this matchup.
“I thought we all worked well as a team. We all got it together and passed, moved the ball more and got to the open man more and whoever finished, finished,” said Slone.
“Yeah, I feel like there was not a lot of selfishness this game. I feel like we got it out, got it inside, back out again and shots were going up,” Tanglao added.
There is a short turnaround for Mitchell, who will face Bloomington-North (12-5) the next night. They will also travel for a third game this week to face Eastern Greene (12-5) on the road.
The Bluejackets will need to carry the momentum they’ve had from these past two games into those to keep this run of strong play going.
“Obviously, a win is great, especially after the run we’ve been on, but I think the momentum will carry and if we keep talking, I talking is our main struggle. But, if we keep that up, then I think things will go our way,” Slone said.
“I 100% agree with (Slone). I think if we keep the momentum from tonight’s game onto tomorrow and Thursday, I think we’ll be set,” Tanglao added.
“Yeah, coming out of a win, that’s going to help a lot. We’re all going to be excited about it and I think tomorrow and Thursday we have to remember how we started this game and continue to start like that,” Peterson followed.
Stats
Mitchell
- Mylea Slone – 13 points, 6/14 shooting, 1/2 FT, 1 rebound
- Brooklyn Peterson – 18 points, 7/16 shooting, 2/4 FT, 10 rebounds
- Jillian Bond – 15 points, 5/13 shooting, 5/8 FT, 10 rebounds
- Malaya Tanglao – 4 points, 2/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Zoey Smith – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Briley Dicks – 2 points, 1/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Kaytyiah Cox – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Grace Thompson – 4 points, 2/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Izzy Duncan – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Paisley Modglin – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
Shoals
- Gracie Shaw – 8 points, 4/8 shooting, 0/0 FT, 7 rebounds
- Taylor Turpin – 18 points, 8/13 shooting, 2/3 FT, 5 rebounds
- Olivia Jordan – 3 points, 1/8 shooting, 1/1 FT, 1 rebound
- Krisha Villanueva – 0 points, 0/2 shooting, 0/2 FT, 0 rebounds
- Ava Perry – 3 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Bella Newland – 2 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
