By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – After suffering a disappointing loss at the hands of Linton-Stockton the night before, Mitchell High School bounced back on Saturday, beating Salem in convincing fashion 60-32.
The Bluejackets dominated the first quarter en route to their victory, scoring 16 unanswered points and ending the period with a 22-6 lead. During their early run, Mitchell cashed 72% of their shot attempts (8/11).
Bluejackets’ head coach Jackson Ryan said it was important for his team to set the tone for the game early, especially after the previous night’s loss to the Miners.
“It was great to see us bounce back. Very tough, physical road game last night at Linton and we didn’t come in hungover from that. We came out ready to play, set the tone early and that’s what good teams do, regardless of who they’re playing,” he said. “They come out ready to play, set the tone and not just do it for the first quarter, they do it for the whole game, and it was good to see us come out and do that tonight.”
Though the Lions’ offense was able to find more success as the game progressed, Mitchell was there to match them at every turn. outscoring them in each quarter of the game.
The Bluejackets brought a balanced offensive attack with four players scoring in double-figures; Austin Mosier with 13 points, Dawson Irwin and Ben Seitzinger with 11, and Gavin Robinson with a team-high 15. As a team, Mitchell shot an efficient 60% from the field (23/39).
Ryan said he was particularly impressed with Robinson’s performance on the night. The sophomore has been one of the team’s key defensive players, with either him or Bryson Shoults often tasked with guarding the other team’s offensive threat, but has had a slow start to the season on the offensive end.
Against Salem, Robinson was a perfect 5/5 from the floor, also making 4/5 attempts from the free-throw line on his way to scoring his season-high.
“I don’t know if it was a little bit of rust coming in from football but he had a slow start to the season with foul trouble and struggling to finish when he gets in the lane. And I feel like every game he’s progressed and taken a step. Not just offensively but in every facet of the game,” said Ryan.
“And him and Bryson are always going to be guarding the other team’s best players. And last year he was just an athlete, and now he’s a basketball player and as he continues to progress, he’s going to be a very special player for us both now and in the future. So, very happy to see that he was rewarded for that progression and that hard work tonight for us.”
Now 4-2 on the season, with a 2-0 record in the Pakota Lake Athletic Conference, Mitchell’s start to this season has been almost a complete 180° from their 1-5 open last year, with each of their four wins coming by a double-digit margin.
Ryan said the improvement has been most notable to him in their team chemistry, with much of the roster from last year back for this season. He credited the leadership of his team’s group of returning juniors and seniors for helping them get to this point.
“It’s definitely our team chemistry, team camaraderie. I knew something was special when on the third day of practice, Tate Woods, who’s new to our program, was having a hard time with the defensive concept and before I could get onto the floor to correct it, Bryson Shoults and Austin Mosier were grabbing him and telling him what to do. So, just little things like that are so cool to see, how this team chemistry, especially from at the beginning of the season last year, to now, it’s just grown leaps and bounds. And, credit to our leadership, credit to our upperclassmen,” he said.
“I can’t make them all get together and hold hands and be best friends, but they’ve really come together, even in the tough times. Against Linton, we could have fallen in the second half, but we didn’t, we kept battling. And again, I think that’s a credit to our leadership and our team chemistry.”
The next time the Bluejackets will play will be Friday when they’ll welcome North Knox (1-3) to The Hive. The two teams squared off last year twice, including one matchup in the opening round of sectional play, with Mitchell earning the win both times.
However, next week will be highlighted by the team’s matchup the following night, when they’ll travel to Brownstown to take on Purdue commit and potential Mr. Basketball candidate Jack Benter and Brownstown-Central (4-1).
The Braves are currently the #14 ranked team in the state and will perhaps be the toughest test on Mitchell’s schedule all season.
The Bluejackets will play three games in five days, coming right back for another big game on the following Tuesday against Orleans, who will be one of their top challengers in the PLAC, winning the conference last year with an undefeated record in those games.
With a week until tip-off, Ryan said the team has not yet started preparation on their upcoming games, as their focus was set on what was in front of them this week with Linton-Stockton and Salem.
“We take everything one game at a time. I’ve not had a chance to see North Knox live yet but Tuesday night we’ll get the opportunity to go over and watch them play. I don’t know a ton about them right now. Brownstown, I think everybody in the state knows about Brownstown and the special group, the special season that they have right now and then also on the backside of that we play Orleans so that’s three games in a five-day span,” Ryan said.
“That Orleans game is a huge game for us and a huge game for the PLAC conference. So, hoping that we have the firepower, the chemistry to get out some wins next weekend and if we keep progressing like we are right now, I like where we’re headed.”
Stats
Mitchell
- Austin Mosier: 13 points, 5/8 shooting, 1/2 FT, 3 rebounds
- Dawson Irwin: 11 points, 5/8 shooting, 1/2 FT, 2 rebounds
- Ben Seitzinger: 11 points, 5/6 shooting, 0/0 FT, 4 rebounds
- Kale England: 2 points, 1/7 shooting, 1/2 FT, 2 rebounds
- Gavin Robinson: 15 points, 5/5 shooting, 1/2 FT, 3 rebounds
- Bryson Shoults: 3 points, 1/2 shooting, 1/2 FT, 1 rebound
- Aiden Pridemore: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Nate Robertson: 4 points, 1/2 shooting, 2/2 FT, 2 rebounds
- Carl Chenault: 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Garrett Floerke: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Connor Teague: 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Tate Woods: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
Salem
- Adam Mull: 2 points, 0/6 shooting, 2/4 FT, 6 rebounds
- Payton Schocke: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Evan Lloyd: 4 points, 2/6 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Alex Wilcox: 0 points, 0/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Jaden Cheatwood: 15 points, 5/7 shooting, 2/4 shooting, 1 rebound
- Jackson Brough: 0 points, 0/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Wyatt Chastain: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Braxton Dean: 4 points, 2/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Les Bowles: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Kaiden Romero-Hembree: 7 points, 2/7 shooting, 2/2 FT, 6 rebounds
