By Noah Dalton
ELIZABETH – Mitchell High School hit the court on Saturday for their second game in consecutive days, taking on South Central, following a defeat on the previous night at the hands of Paoli.
The Bluejackets were ultimately beaten by the Rebels, 61-54, marking just the second time this season that Mitchell have been beaten in back-to-back games, with the others being losses to 1A #3 ranked Orleans and 2A #5 Brownstown-Central.
Against South Central, the Bluejackets controlled the game early, holding their opponents without a made field goal until midway through the first quarter, though they only ended the first quarter with a two-point lead, 12-10.
A minute into the second, the Rebels briefly grabbed the lead after two straight baskets, before Mitchell was able to find the bottom of the net on consecutive possessions of their own, with a three from Dawson Irwin and a layup from Austin Mosier coming from a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass.
Those two quick scores promoted a South Central timeout, which proved to be a pivotal point in the game, as from there they went on a 9-0 run that spanned nearly half the quarter.
Their run was spurred by timely shooting, as well as eight Mitchell turnovers in the quarter, double the four they had in the first.
With that run, the Rebels managed to outscore Mitchell 22-15 in the second quarter, taking a five-point lead into halftime, 32-27.
South Central held onto that lead for the rest of the game, with the Bluejackets unable to reclaim the advantage during the second half.
Turnovers continued to hurt Mitchell in the second half, with the Bluejackets giving up the ball 10 more times across the two quarters, with seven of those coming in the fourth as they made their final push to get back into the game.
Irwin was Mitchell’s top scorer on the night with 16 points, shooting 67% from the field (6/9). Behind him was Mosier, who netted 13 points, as well as Gavin Robinson and Bryson Shoults, who each had eight,
The Rebels had two scorers within double figures on the night, Christian Kiper, who scored 22 points and Cole Thomas, who finished the night with 20. The pair combined for all but six of South Central’s 29 second-half points.
Now 8-5 on the season, the Bluejackets will next play on Friday, when they welcome country rival Bedford North-Lawrence (7-2) to the Hive. The Stars will enter the matchup hot, having won their last six.
Stats
Mitchell
- Austin Mosier: 13 points, 6/14 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Dawson Irwin: 16 points, 6/9 shooting, 1/2 FT, 4 rebounds
- Ben Seitzinger: 5 points, 1/5 shooting, 2/2 FT, 6 rebounds
- Kale England: 4 points, 2/9 shooting, 0/0 FT, 4 rebounds
- Gavin Robinson: 8 points, 4/7 shooting, 0/0 FT, 4 rebounds
- Bryson Shoults: 8 points, 4/7 shooting, 0/1 FT, 3 rebounds
- Aiden Pridemore: 0 points, 0/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Nate Robertson: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 7 rebounds
South Central
- Ethan Hedden: 8 points, 2/7 shooting, 4/5 FT, 9 rebounds
- Christian Kiper: 22 points, 8/22 shooting, 5/5 FT, 7 rebounds
- Cole Thomas: 20 points, 8/15 shooting, 3/4 FT, 7 rebounds
- Jarrett Ferree: 7 points, 3/7 shooting, 1/2 FT, 2 rebounds
- Tanner Smith: 4 points, 1/3 shooting, 0/2 FT, 1 rebound
