By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Mitchell High School beat New Washington in their second game of the Cement City Classic tournament, hosted at The Hive on Wednesday night.
The Bluejackets put the Mustangs away 56-33, in what was a much more comfortable victory than their first tournament matchup against White River Valley, which saw Mitchell fall behind by 20 points before clawing their way back into the game in the second half for the eventual victory.
This time around, the Bluejackets were the first to score, thanks to a three from Austin Mosier, giving them a lead that they would hold for the remainder of play.
After a low-scoring first quarter, Mitchell led by just five, with both teams struggling from the field in the period. Mitchell made just 31% of their attempts (4/13), while New Washington cashed 40% (4/10).
The Bluejackets found some consistency in the second, making 50% of their shots and increasing their lead to double digits, 29-15, before the end of the quarter. Sophomore Gavin Robinson led the charge for Mitchell, scoring eight points on a perfect 4/4 from the floor in the period.
They carried that momentum into the second half, holding the Mustangs to just 18 points, as they continued to stack their lead until the final buzzer.
Bluejackets’ head coach Jackson Ryan said his team took care of business on both ends of the floor in their victory over New Washington.
“It was very slow game. These holiday tournament games are just, you never know. You just roll the ball out and go play and funny things happen,” he said. “Luckily, we found a way to win a game today this morning, and then we came out and handled our business on both ends of the floor. They packed in a zone the whole time, and I thought we got good looks. So, we didn’t settle and handled ourselves defensively. When you do that you can take care of business.”
After playing two games on Wednesday, they’ll head back to their home floor the following night for the championship game, where they’ll meet Franklin County for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
On their way to the finals, the Wildcats earned wins over Salem and Shoals, matching Mitchell as the only unbeaten teams after the first day of the event.
Having some familiarity with their opponent, Ryan expects the game to be one fought over controlling the tempo.
“This whole dream of us having a holiday tournament, the first team we reached out to was Franklin County. We’ve got a couple of connections with the coaching staff. They’re a team that we always try to play over the summer, especially at D1 camp. So, we’re familiar to an extent with them, and they’re very well coached very disciplined offensively. Defensively, they’re very physical, and they guard and they play at a very slow pace, very deliberate with everything that they do,” said Ryan.
“I think it’s going to be a battle of who can control the tempo, who can control the pace of the game. So, if we can control that, then I like our chances. If we can’t, then we’re in for a dogfight. So, I’m excited about it. You have a chance to win your first holiday tournament on your home floor and hopefully, the kids are fired up and ready to go for the opportunity to put something in the trophy case.”
Not only would a win against Franklin County earn them the gold in the Cement City Classic, but it would also mark the team’s eighth win of the year (7-4), which would be the most during Ryan’s three-season tenure as coach.
Adding some hardware to the trophy case remains in the forefront of the team’s vision though, as Ryan hopes his team can make history for the program on Thursday with a win.
“Just having something that you can come back five years from now, 10 years from now and say ‘I was a part of that’. Leaving a piece behind of Mitchell’s basketball history, selfishly I want that for those guys in our locker room. But it is just another step for us,” he said.
“I also think big picture for our program, we’re going on three and a half years for me that we’ve not won more than seven games here. So, here at the holidays to have the chance to get to eight wins, I think is a big thing for us confidence-wise moving forward. It’s a big opportunity and we’re going to treat it like it’s a normal game but you know hopefully, we understand the importance of tomorrow night. Winning a holiday tournament on our home floor and just taking the next step.”
Stats
Mitchell
- Austin Mosier: 10 points, 3/10 shooting, 3/4 FT, 3 rebounds
- Dawson Irwin: 8 points, 3/8 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Ben Seitzinger: 2 points, 0/2 shooting, 2/2 FT, 2 rebounds
- Kale England: 9 points, 4/7 shooting, 1/1 FT, 3 rebounds
- Gavin Robinson: 8 points, 4/7 shooting, 0/1 FT, 7 rebounds
- Bryson Shoults: 4 points, 2/7 shooting, 0/0 FT, 8 rebounds
- Aiden Pridemore: 3 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Nate Robertson: 4 points, 2/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Carl Chenault: 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 5 rebounds
- Connor Teague: 2 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Lucas Gosnell: 2 points, 1/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Tate Woods: 3 points, 1/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
New Washington
- Paul Giltner: 18 points, 8/21 shooting, 0/2 FT, 1 rebound
- Landon Bower: 1 point, 0/0 shooting, 0/1 FT, 2 rebounds
- Connor Shaffer: 4 points, 2/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Amos Bell: 3 points, 1/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Miguel Hessig: 5 points, 2/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 7 rebounds
- Cohen Briles: 2 points, 1/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 7 rebounds
