By Noah Dalton
PEKIN – Mitchell High School fell to Eastern (Pekin) on Tuesday in a close matchup, losing 38-33.
After a back-and-forth first half, the two teams exchanged the lead six times in the third quarter, before the Musketeers began to pull away in the fourth, growing their lead to as much as nine in the final minute of play.
Mitchell were able to get the lead back down to five, but with just six seconds left on the clock, their fate was sealed.
Turnovers were lethal for the Bluejackets in the matchup, particularly in the second half, where they gave the ball up 16 times, after ending the first half with just six.
Mitchell coach Dakota Brasher identified the turnovers as a key factor in the game’s final result, as well as the team finding themselves in foul trouble down the stretch, getting into the bonus in both the third and fourth quarter and sending Eastern to the free-throw line for 17 attempts in the second half.
“Turnovers killed us. Credit to them, they upped the pressure a little bit in the fourth quarter and we just didn’t handle it very well, so credit to them. Turnovers and foul trouble killed us and then we’ve been preaching to guard without fouling and we’re going to continue to do so and we’re getting better. We’re making strides, but sometimes it still haunts us a little bit,” he said.
The Bluejackets entered the locker room at the half trailing by five, but stormed their way back in the third, thanks in large part to senior Jillian Bond, who managed to score 10 points in the period on five straight makes in the paint. She finished the night with 20 points to lead all scorers, also pulling in nine boards.
“She came in and she made a good adjustment. They were calling travels on her in the first half, so she made an adjustment to really play on two feet, maybe use her shot fake a little bit. So, credit to her, she made adjustments and it showed,” Brasher said of Bond’s second-half performance.
Though Mitchell are currently sitting at just one win on the season, with a record of 1-11, the team has managed to improve throughout the season thus far.
In their first six games, the Bluejackets averaged just 24.6 points per game, giving up 60.5 per game. In their last six, the team has averaged 37.8 ppg, allowing 53 ppg.
Brasher said he has most noticed the improvement in his team’s fundamentals and their ability to thwart defensive pressure, though he said he and the rest of the coaching staff still have a ways to go.
“Catching the ball with two hands, proper pivots, proper passing. We’re not throwing bounce passes from our shoulder anymore, we’re thrown at from our knees, so we can throw it around girls. We’re handling pressure a lot better. We watch the tape against Lanesville, now you watch us against pressure and we are a different team and that is encouraging to see,” he said.
“But at the same time, we still make some mistakes that come back to haunt us and ultimately, that’s all me. We’ve got to prepare them better for the speed of the game and to do the things necessary in order to win basketball games.”
Stats
Mitchell
- Jillian Bond: 20 points, 8/14 shooting, 4/7 FT, 9 rebounds
- Briley Dicks: 4 points, 2/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Leighanne Thompson: 1 point, 0/5 shooting, 1/2 FT, 4 rebounds
- Paisley Modglin: 0 points, 0/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Gwen Eastridge: 2 points, 1/8 shooting, 0/0 FT, 5 rebounds
- Anna Sowders: 5 points, 2/6 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
Eastern
- Bailey Trainor: 0 points, 0/9 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Kylie Batt: 8 points, 3/5 shooting, 2/8 FT, 7 rebounds
- Katie Hauer: 11 points, 4/10 shooting, 2/4 FT, 1 rebound
- Emma Brawner: 10 points, 5/9 shooting, 0/0 FT, 7 rebounds
- Bracie Jackson: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Eliza Starrett: 9 points, 2/5 shooting, 5/9 FT, 6 rebounds
