By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL — On Saturday, Mitchell High School earned wins over Shoals and White River Valley to complete their sweep of the Cement City Classic, claiming the tournament crown for the second straight year.
The Bluejackets emerged from day one of the event with two fairly decisive wins, aside from a few three-point flurries from Franklin County in that matchup that saw the Wildcats threaten to make their way back into the game.
The same could not be said about Saturday after Mitchell’s matchup against Shoals, which kicked off the day.
The Bluejackets found themselves down double-digits early, in what ultimately turned into an extremely close game that came down to the final possession, with Mitchell coming out on top 45-43.
The Jug Rox were up early thanks in large part to their ability to control the pace of the game, as well as some light-out shooting.
They slowed the game down, holding the Bluejackets to just four points in the first quarter on two made field goals, both of which were scored by senior guard Austin Mosier.
Shoals opted to play a more patient style, often spending minutes at a time on a single possession. As a result, they only attempted six shots in the period but buried four of them, including three from beyond the arc.
Mitchell were able to finally speed up the pace of play in the second, forcing fast breaks and dragging themselves out of the quicksand that had been set by the Jug Rox. They were able to take a four-point lead by the end of the half, marking the first of many lead changes in the game.
They continued going back and forth in the second half, leading to a tense final few minutes.
The Bluejackets found themselves up by three, 40-37 after consecutive baskets from Gavin Robinson and Aiden Pridemore. Shoals needed to answer and needed to do so in quick order, having not put any points up in nearly three minutes.
On the next possession, they brought the ball up the court and found an open Owen Turpin, who drained a three to even things up once again at 40-40.
Mitchell got a three of their own from Mosier just 15 seconds later to gain the advantage back, but the Jug Rox matched them again, this time thanks to Korbyn Lents cashing a shot from deep to tie things up once more.
With a minute left to play, the Bluejackets had the ball and a chance to win it.
They moved the ball around a bit, looking for the ideal look, before Robinson drove to the basket with a head of steam, colliding with a Shoals defender resulting in a charge and a turnover, giving the Jug Rox the ball with 30 seconds left.
Mitchell’s defense held firm, forcing 20 seconds off the clock and keeping the Jug Rox from getting an open look, forcing a timeout.
Coming out of the break, Shoals attempted to inbound the ball, but it was ripped away by Robinson, who drove down the court and scored a layup that served as the winning basket.
“Credit to Gavin for reading that really well, jumping that passing lane, and being able to go down and be as strong as he is to get us those two points that we desperately needed. We needed to get out of that game as quick as possible,” said Bluejackets head coach Clint Roesler.
Roesler also credited the Jug Rox and their game plan for the matchup, recognizing that they’d looked to capitalize on some flaws in Mitchell’s game that had been exposed throughout the season, particularly in their loss to Salem.
In that game, Roesler felt his team struggled to play in a slower-paced game, one that didn’t allow them to force many turnovers and score their points in transition.
This time around the Bluejackets found a way to win in a similar situation.
“Something that we as a program have struggled with since I’ve taken over and I noticed watching film last year is being able to play a possession game instead of being able to out-athletic somebody. Salem exposed that for sure. We talked about that yesterday and I told them this is the Salem game 2.0, and you guys showed that you can grit out a win, and you can win a possession game, which is good. We needed that,” he said.
The game that followed against White River Valley was a more comfortable win for Mitchell, who took it 57-42 to complete their unbeaten run in the tournament.
After an early three from the Wolverines, the Bluejackets scored 10 unanswered points to get out ahead with a lead they held for the entire game.
Mitchell held White River Valley scoreless for much of the second quarter, extending their lead to 15, 32-17, by halftime, on their way to the victory by the same margin.
It wasn’t the Bluejackets’ cleanest performance of the tournament, as they finished with 21 turnovers as a team, compared to just nine for the Wolverines, but Mitchell’s dominant game on the glass, outrebounding White River Valley 44 to 13, helped them to get the job done as they’d done throughout the weekend on their way to hoisting up the trophy at the end.
“Really proud of everybody. Really proud of the effort on the weekend. Everybody came and did their part, no matter if they were playing, dressing, managers, or coaching staff. Everyone worked really hard. We watched a lot of film over this weekend, getting prepared for four games in two days. That’s a lot of film time, a lot of late nights,” said Roesler.
“It’s not always the prettiest basketball in the world, but on game four of day two, I didn’t expect it to be the prettiest in the world. And we’ve got some tired bodies, and they were hitting us pretty hard and I think they got even more tired.”
This tournament comes before a break for the Bluejackets, with their next game coming on Jan. 7.
That matchup will be a crucial one, as Mitchell will be traveling to Orleans to take on the 1A #1 ranked Bulldogs.
With the Bluejackets currently 2-0 leading the Patoka Lake Athletic Conference, the game will play a huge role in deciding the conference champion at the end of the season.
That game will be followed by Mitchell traveling to Paoli on Jan. 10 to take on another one of the top squads in the PLAC.
Roesler hopes this tournament will serve as good preparation for his squad, as they look ahead to those key games, both of which will be played on the road.
“[Orleans] always bring a good brand of basketball every single year. We’re going to have to bring it. And this break is going to allow a lot of film time to prepare for Orleans and then a quick turnaround to try to prepare for Paoli as well So, we’ll heal up this week but it’s going to be two tough games,” he said.
“Something we’ll have to be ready for is go and be a road warrior and go in ready for battle,” he added. “We’ll be prepared for it and I think we’ll go in and attack them with everything we’ve got.”
Box Scores
Vs Shoals
Mitchell Stats
Points: 45 | FGM: 17/38 | FG%: 44.74% | 3PM: 4/12 | 3P%: 33.33% | FTM: 7/14 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 18 | Team Turnovers: 5
Individual Player Stats for Mitchell:
#40 Nate Robertson – Points: 9 | FGM: 4/6 | FG%: 66.67% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 1/2 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 5
#12 Carl Chenault – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 1
#2 Austin Mosier – Points: 16 | FGM: 6/12 | FG%: 50.00% | 3PM: 4/9 | 3P%: 44.44% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#1 Aiden Pridemore – Points: 3 | FGM: 1/5 | FG%: 20.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 1/2 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 3
#3 Tate Woods – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/3 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#22 Gavin Robinson – Points: 17 | FGM: 6/11 | FG%: 54.55% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 5/10 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 5
Shoals Stats
Points: 43 | FGM: 17/29 | FG%: 58.62% | 3PM: 6/9 | 3P%: 66.67% | FTM: 2/4 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 15 | Team Turnovers: 11
Individual Player Stats for Shoals:
#2 Ralph Holman – Points: 16 | FGM: 6/6 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 4/4 | 3P%: 100.00% | FTM: 0/2 | FT%: 0.00% | Rebounds: 2
#4 Wyatt Boyd – Points: 3 | FGM: 1/3 | FG%: 33.33% | 3PM: 1/3 | 3P%: 33.33% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
#23 Korbyn Lents – Points: 11 | FGM: 5/8 | FG%: 62.50% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 3
#54 Lucas Jordan – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/0 | FG%: 0% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 1
#55 Jamer Potts – Points: 4 | FGM: 2/6 | FG%: 33.33% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 3
#12 Lucas Howell – Points: 4 | FGM: 1/3 | FG%: 33.33% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 4
#33 Keegan Bearden – Points: | FGM: / | FG%: 0% | 3PM: / | 3P%: 0% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds:
#1 Owen Turpin – Points: 5 | FGM: 2/3 | FG%: 66.67% | 3PM: 1/1 | 3P%: 100.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
Vs White River Valley
Mitchell Stats
Points: 57 | FGM: 23/48 | FG%: 47.92% | 3PM: 4/12 | 3P%: 33.33% | FTM: 7/14 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 44 | Team Turnovers: 21
Individual Player Stats for Mitchell:
#40 Nate Robertson – Points: 10 | FGM: 5/8 | FG%: 62.50% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/1 | FT%: 0.00% | Rebounds: 9
#12 Carl Chenault – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/1 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#2 Austin Mosier – Points: 8 | FGM: 3/10 | FG%: 30.00% | 3PM: 2/6 | 3P%: 33.33% | FTM: 0/2 | FT%: 0.00% | Rebounds: 6
#1 Aiden Pridemore – Points: 3 | FGM: 1/3 | FG%: 33.33% | 3PM: 1/2 | 3P%: 50.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#3 Tate Woods – Points: 6 | FGM: 2/4 | FG%: 50.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 5
#22 Gavin Robinson – Points: 17 | FGM: 7/13 | FG%: 53.85% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 3/7 | FT%: 42.86% | Rebounds: 17
#4 Malakai Goodman – Points: 6 | FGM: 2/2 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 1
#21 Garrett Floerke – Points: 5 | FGM: 2/4 | FG%: 50.00% | 3PM: 1/2 | 3P%: 50.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
#10 Gavin Martin – Points: | FGM: / | FG%: 0% | 3PM: / | 3P%: 0% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds:
#20 Kaden Mullis – Points: | FGM: / | FG%: 0% | 3PM: / | 3P%: 0% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds:
#30 Blake King – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/2 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#11 Logan Kender – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
White River Valley Stats
Points: 42 | FGM: 16/56 | FG%: 28.57% | 3PM: 5/26 | 3P%: 19.23% | FTM: 5/5 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 13 | Team Turnovers: 9
Individual Player Stats for White River Valley:
#10 Brenden Carmichael – Points: 5 | FGM: 2/12 | FG%: 16.67% | 3PM: 1/8 | 3P%: 12.50% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 4
#12 Eli Noel – Points: 11 | FGM: 4/11 | FG%: 36.36% | 3PM: 1/5 | 3P%: 20.00% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 0
#20 RJ Greenlee – Points: 2 | FGM: 0/5 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 4
#22 Lane Davis – Points: 14 | FGM: 6/15 | FG%: 40.00% | 3PM: 1/5 | 3P%: 20.00% | FTM: 1/1 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 3
#21 John Powers – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/4 | FG%: 25.00% | 3PM: 0/2 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 1
#4 Alex Ball – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/3 | FG%: 33.33% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 1
#40 Lelen Grissom – Points: 3 | FGM: 1/1 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 1/1 | 3P%: 100.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
#42 Malachi Green – Points: 3 | FGM: 1/2 | FG%: 50.00% | 3PM: 1/2 | 3P%: 50.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
#50 AJ Moreno – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/3 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/3 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
