By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL — Mitchell High School picked up their second win of the season on Tuesday night, beating Shoals 40-32.
On a night where both sides struggled to knock down shots for much of the night, it was the second half performance from the Bluejackets, particularly the fourth quarter, that made the difference.
After an even first half at 13 points of piece, Mitchell outscored the Jug Rox 27-19 in the second half, with 17 of those points coming in the fourth.
“The fourth quarter was our most fundamental quarter. We saw jump stops, bounce passes, really broke the press effectively, which we hadn’t really done the first three quarters, and it showed on the scoreboard,” said Bluejackets’ head coach Dakota Brasher.
The two teams traded leads throughout the first half before entering their respective locker rooms tied up.
Shooting struggles plagued the initial two quarters, with Shoals firing at 21% from the floor and Mitchell just 20%.
That continued through the third, though things had gotten worse for the Jug Rox, who did not make a field goal in the period.
Instead, it was their free throw shooting that kept them alive in the game, shooting 8/13 from the stripe to help them keep within range of Mitchell, who finished the third up 23-21, after leading by seven just a few minutes earlier.
Shoals was able to keep things close largely thanks to the efforts of Ava Perry, who scored six of their eight free throws in the quarter, on her way to a game-high 21 points for the night.
“We still make some silly fouls. We swipe down at the ball. We’re a step late defensively, which puts us out of position. We’re still learning the little things defensively on how to win,” Brasher said.
“[Perry] is just a really good player, and we struggled to stay in front of her, especially in transition. We struggled to stop the ball,” he continued.
Down the stretch for the Bluejackets it was Gwen Eastridge, who scored eight in the fourth, shooting a perfect 3/3 from the field and knocking down two free throws, as well as Raylee Thompson, who added six points in the quarter, that helped them come away with the win.
Thompson finished the night with nine points to lead Mitchell. Eastridge and Anna Sowders both added eight.
Also scoring for the Bluejackets were Paisley Modglin, with seven points, Abigail Fountain, with six points and Jorja Lamm, who scored two, also pulling down 11 rebounds.
Wins and losses haven’t been at the top of Brasher’s priority list since taking over the program last season, instead opting to focus on developing the skillset of his roster with an eye towards the future.
According to Brasher, picking up a win like this can be something that helps the team’s progress along the way, as they look to build off this performance throughout the remainder of the season.
“We don’t talk a lot about wins and losses right now. We’re at a different stage in our program than other places, but it’s good to be able to come in tomorrow and talk about things we can improve after you win the night before. I feel like the focus is better, attention to details a little better. Girls start buying in a little bit more,” he said.
“It’s great step forward for us. We just have to keep getting better and play our best basketball into January and see what happens.”
Mitchell’s next game will be on Thursday, when they travel to Scottsburg to take on the Warriors (2-9), who handled them in last year’s matchup between the two teams at The Hive 68-26.
