By Noah Dalton
EDINBURGH – Mitchell High School continued their hot streak on Thursday, picking up their fourth consecutive win, beating Edinburgh 58-43.
The two sides were largely even throughout the first half, trading baskets back and forth, with the Bluejackets leading by just two points, 18-16 as both teams entered the locker room.
It was the third quarter where they began to gain some separation, scoring eight unanswered points early in the period on their way to eventually going up by double digits before the Lancers were able to stop the run.
Entering the fourth, Mitchell carried an eight point lead, which they continued to pile on to before the final buzzer, extending it to nearly 20 points midway through the quarter, 50-32, before ultimately securing a lopsided win.
Bluejackets head coach Clint Roesler said Edinburgh’s defensive gameplan gave his team some issues early, limiting their offensive output in the first half.
“I like whenever we see different defensive coverages, which we did. They completely left and sagged off of anyone on the backside, whether it be Gavin (Robinson) Carl (Chenault) Kaden (Mullis), or Malakai (Goodman), they completely left them and just focused on the side with the ball which was usually Aiden Pridemore, (Austin) Mosier and Nate (Robertson), along with a Mosier getting face guarded the entire night,” he said.
“We were a little slow and trying to figure out what we needed to do and how we needed to attack it. We talked about it at halftime and we talked about how to get people into successful situations and I thought we did a really good job of that. Nate was a huge catalyst for that and I gave him a lot of love in the locker room. He got us into a flow and then they really had to pay attention to him, which left some other people open.”
Mitchell had four players score in double figures in the game, Austin Mosier, who scored 12; Aiden Pridemore, who scored 10, Nate Robertson, who scored 16 and Gavin Robinson, who finished with 19 points, equaling Edinburgh’s Conner Ramey for most on the night.
That depth has been a key to the team’s success this season, as they now sit with a record of 12-6, putting them in line for the program’s first winning season since their 2018-19 campaign. In recent weeks, that depth had seemingly taken a hit, with key players being forced to miss time with injuries and illnesses, but the Bluejackets found reinforcements in the form of Malakai Goodman and Kaden Mullis, who’ve been the ones to step up and help fill those voids.
“I think the biggest expansion is defensively. Carl and Gavin give us different things than Malakai and Kaden can give us and that’s good because we substitute in and out for what we need at the time,” said Roesler.
“So, any time we can roll with any of those guys, depending on what we need at the moment and I thought everybody did their jobs tonight.”
As Mitchell continues to build on their win streak, matching their longest of the season thus far, the previous effort being their four consecutive wins at the Cement City Classic near the end of December, Roesler feels the team is now playing their best ball of the season, with room to continue growing as they near the postseason.
“I probably feel the best that I felt all season long. I really like our group of kids and that goes from an Austin Mosier, all the way down to our Freshman C Team guys,” he said. “I really like where our program is at. I really like the buy-in from everybody. I’m really proud of our guys for working really hard. We have a close-knit group and I think we’re getting closer as the season goes on.”
Box Score
Mitchell Stats
Points: 58 | FGM: 20/50 | FG%: 40.00% | 3PM: 1/9 | 3P%: 11.11% | FTM: 17/21 | FT%: 80.95% | Rebounds: 44 | Team Turnovers: 13
Individual Player Stats for Mitchell:
#40 Nate Robertson – Points: 16 | FGM: 5/7 | FG%: 71.43% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 6/7 | FT%: 85.71% | Rebounds: 9
#12 Carl Chenault – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/3 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 5
#2 Austin Mosier – Points: 12 | FGM: 6/15 | FG%: 40.00% | 3PM: 0/5 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 8
#1 Aiden Pridemore – Points: 10 | FGM: 3/8 | FG%: 37.50% | 3PM: 1/3 | 3P%: 33.33% | FTM: 3/3 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 7
#22 Gavin Robinson – Points: 19 | FGM: 6/14 | FG%: 42.86% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 7/9 | FT%: 77.78% | Rebounds: 12
#4 Malakai Goodman – Points: 1 | FGM: 0/2 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 1/2 |
FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 3
#20 Kaden Mullis – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
Edinburgh
Points: 43 | FGM: 17/55 | FG%: 30.91% | 3PM: 6/24 | 3P%: 25.00% | FTM: 3/5 | FT%: 60.00% | Rebounds: 25 | Team Turnovers:
Individual Player Stats for Edinburgh:
#4 Bailey Totten – Points: 12 | FGM: 5/5 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 2/3 | 3P%: 66.67% | FTM: 0/1 | FT%: 0.00% | Rebounds: 0
#12 Eli Smith – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/4 | FG%: 25.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
#21 Lucas Seegers – Points: 3 | FGM: 1/7 | FG%: 14.29% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 1/2 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 4
#22 Connor Ramey – Points: 19 | FGM: 7/26 | FG%: 26.92% | 3PM: 3/14 | 3P%: 21.43% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 2
#32 Avynn Whitaker – Points: 5 | FGM: 2/8 | FG%: 25.00% | 3PM: 1/4 | 3P%: 25.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 11
#34 Rylan Londeree – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/3 | FG%: 33.33% | 3PM: 0/2 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 6
#44 Milas Burkman – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/2 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
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