By Noah Dalton
MONTGOMERY – Mitchell completed the second-half of their back-to-back on Saturday, traveling to Barr-Reeve for a battle against the Vikings.
Despite a strong start to the game for the Bluejackets, Barr-Reeve left the matchup with the victory by a final score of 57-21.
The two sides traded baskets early, before the Vikings lept out ahead after scoring 10 unanswered points, including back-to-back threes from Shelby Dobson and Paighton Parsons.
Down eight at the start of the second quarter following that stretch, Mitchell clawed back with back-to-back buckets of their own from Gwen Eastridge, reducing the lead to four, 13-9.
The Bluejackets were able to hold Barr-Reeve to just two make baskets in the second, but the Vikings were able to stay out in front thanks to frequent trips to the free-throw line.
They took eight free-throws in the period, knocking down seven of them, with Hannah Bledsoe going 5/6 from the stripe to lead the way.
Mitchell’s only other points in the second came via a three from Raylee Thompson, as the found themselves trailing 25-12 at the half.
Things took a turn for the worse for the Bluejackets in the third, as Barr-Reeve’s offense heated up, outscoring them 15-2 in the quarter to take a commanding 26-point lead.
Perhaps the biggest disparity in the period was the two side’s shooting percentages, with the Vikings firing at 45% on 11 attempts, compared to just 9% for Mitchell on the same number of tries.
“I thought the first half was probably the best half of basketball we’ve played all year. We ran out of steam in the third quarter,” said Bluejackets’ head coach Dakota Brasher.
That momentum carried into the fourth, with Barr-Reeve extending their advantage to eventually secure a running clock by way of the IHSAA’s 35-point lead mercy rule on their way to the win.
Brasher felt the team’s tough schedule, with a three-game week, which included consecutive outings, may have been a factor in their second-half slowdown.
“I told the team, we’re sore, we’re tired, we’ve had three games this week, but look at their schedule. They also had three games this week. So, it’s not an excuse. You don’t get to make excuses,” he said.
“We just have to keep getting better and I thought the first half tonight was a good display of what we can be down the road.”
Brasher also commended the effort of Barr-Reeve, including their head coach, Lacey Higgins.
“They pressured us, took us out of our offense a little bit, so now they’re forcing some turnovers and we’re taking some bad shots and that leads to easy looks for them. And they had some girls knock down some tough shots,” he said.
“I think we can get better at flying out to shooters and things like that, but [Higgins] does a really, really good job. They’re a tough team to play against.”
The Vikings were led in scoring on the night by Josie Kneep, with 12 points. Also in double-figures for Barr-Reeve was Bledsoe with 10.
For Mitchell, Anna Sowders led the team with seven points. Behind her were Paisley Modglin, who added five and Eastridge, who scored four.
The Bluejackets have one more game before taking a break for the holiday, a road matchup against conference foe Springs Valley on Tuesday.
The focus for Mitchell over that time remains the same as it has all season according to Brasher.
“Our focus hasn’t changed. It’s that we’ve got to get better,” he said.
“We talk about playing for 32 minutes. We have to do a better job of limiting turnovers. We’ve got to do a better job of playing our system and our style of defense, we get out of it at times. We just have to get better.”
