By Noah Dalton
JASONVILLE – Returning from a brief holiday break, Mitchell High School traveled to Shakamak for their first action since Dec. 21, when they competed in a tournament at Trinity Lutheran, where they picked up their third win of the year.
The Bluejackets weren’t able to carry the momentum from their most recent outing, a near 30-point blowout win over Crothersville, into Saturday’s matchup against the Lakers, where they were beaten 54-22.
Mitchell struggled to find offense against Shakamak, particularly in the first half, where they scored just 10 points, after a hot start that saw them open the game by scoring five unanswered.
The Lakers countered by going on a run of their own, ultimately outscoring the Bluejackets 34-5 in the remainder of the first half.
“I think we’re still a really young team. I think we let one mistake lead to two, lead to three, lead to four,” Bluejackets head coach Dakota Brasher said regarding that stretch of the game.
“We were playing hard, and then they hit a shot, and we kind of let off a little bit. And I told them in the locker room, so what, they hit a shot. That’s when you’ve got to buckle down and you’ve got to go after the next possession,” he continued.
That pace carried through the second half, leading to Shakamak guard Elayni Stone burying a floater midway through the fourth quarter to bring the lead past 35 points, 50-14, triggering the IHSAA running clock rule.
Lakers’ junior Madelyn Kennett led all scorers with 19 points. Also in double figures for Shakamak was Stone, who scored 12.
For Mitchell, Gwen Eastridge led the way, scoring 10. Also scoring for the Bluejackets were Abigail Fountain, six points, Paisley Modglin, three points, Avah Cooper, two points, and Anna Sowders, one point.
Brasher noted the experience difference between the two sides, with Shakamak’s lineup consisting of numerous junior and senior players, compared to Mitchell having just three on their roster.
“They’ve got girls that have put a lot of time in the gym, and you can tell that. You’ve got to make those girls miss shots, whether it’s with your hands and ball pressure defensively, and we just didn’t do that a ton tonight,” he said “But I tell our girls all the time, it’s not an excuse, the inexperience. If you’re out there, you can’t do the things that freshmen and sophomores typically do.”
Though the team’s win-loss record may not be ideal, at 3-14 after falling to Shakamak, that number still shows growth from the previous year, where Mitchell finished just 1-23.
The next step in growth for the team is learning how to limit some of those costly mistakes made early against the Lakers that snowballed into their eventual defeat.
“I think how to win is what we’re just trying to really work for right now. Not letting one mistake lead to two. So what if you didn’t hit a shot? Get it back on the defensive end. So what if you turn it over? Go down and get a stop,” said Brasher.
“Right now, we’re young and we’re learning how to do that. But youth is not an excuse. It’s our situation, but it’s not an excuse for some of the mistakes we make.”
