By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Mitchell High School fell to 0-2 in Patoka Lake Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, losing 55-32 to Springs Valley.
The two sides battled evenly in the first quarter, with the score even at various points throughout, but it was the second quarter where things began to turn south for the Bluejackets. After leading by just two to end the period, the defending conference champion Blackhawks were lights out in the second, outscoring Mitchell 14-4 and giving them a sizeable lead they’d carry for the remainder of the game.
Bluejackets’ head coach Dakota Brasher noted Springs Valley’s zone defense and his team’s difficulty facing it in the second quarter as one of the keys to the run.
“They have been playing man the last couple of games that we’ve watched, so the zone was a little bit of a surprise. But, it’s not like we couldn’t run good offense against it because we came out in the first quarter and played really well against it. They might have made a couple of adjustments and we couldn’t just pass that. We got a little stagnant, our movement got a little less and we quit going to what worked. And ultimately, that’s why the score is what it is,” he said.
Mitchell also struggled from the free-throw line on the night, shooting 35% from the stripe in 14 attempts. That, paired with what Brasher said he felt was a lack of communication defensively and some key turnovers will be areas of emphasis coming out of the matchup, as the team looks to continue improving.
“We just did some things that we don’t do on a nightly basis. We shot 35% from the free-throw line. I believe we’ve been shooting 70% as a team this year, so it was an off night from the free-throw line. We gotta get in the gym, we got to get better,” he said. “We’ve gotta do a better job not turning it over. I think we only had 11 or 12 turnovers all game. We just had some timely turnovers, I think. And then defensively, we have to be more connected. We’ve got to be more connected on the defensive end of the floor, talking and communicating, and they just ran some things offensively that we struggled to guard.”
Regardless of the outcome, Brasher was pleased with his team’s effort against Springs Valley, in what he felt was a closer game than the stat sheet may show.
“We played hard. I pushed them and I challenged them to play hard and I have a group of girls out there that I love and they played extremely hard for me. I couldn’t be more proud of that, but at the same time, now it comes down to the details, and correcting those details. And that game is not reflective of the scoreboard I think the game was a lot closer, and it just got out of hand there,” he said.
The Bluejackets won’t take the court again for another week when travel to Brown County (2-2) for an 8 p.m. tip-off. With a few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday, Brasher said he wants his team to spend time with family before returning to prepare for their upcoming matchup with the Eagles.
I told them we’ve got a tough stretch coming up. These next two days, I’m giving them tomorrow off and obviously Thanksgiving off, you need to spend time with your family and you need to work on that relationship and build that relationship. That’s the first thing, that’s for that’s for their health. That’s for my health. Family is something we’re big on. We are a family in the locker room, so that’s the first thing is to focus on your family,” said Brasher.
“Friday and Saturday, we’re coming in, we’re getting better. We’re going to correct some details and then we’re just going to continue to get better at playing fundamental basketball.”
Stats
Mitchell
- Jillian Bond – 17 points, 6/13 shooting, 5/12 FT, 12 rebounds
- Briley Dicks – 8 points, 3/6 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Leighanne Thompson – 2 points, 1/9 shooting, 0/0 FT, 5 rebounds
- Paisley Modglin – 3 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Jorja Lamm – 2 points, 1/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Gwen Eastridge – 0 points, 0/3 shooting, 0/2 FT, 4 rebounds
- Daveney Roop – 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebounds
Springs Valley
- Tori McCormick – 6 points, 3/7 shooting, 0/0 FT, 5 rebounds
- Maci Eckerty – 12 points, 5/8 shooting, 2/3 FT, 2 rebounds
- Kynleigh Dalton – 2 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/2 FT, 1 rebound
- Leigh Carnes – 6 points, 3/7 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Maddie Carnes – 21 points, 7/15 shooting, 2/2 FT, 8 rebounds
- Jordyn Land – 2 points, 1/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Bella Nottger – 6 points, 1/1 shooting, 4/7 FT, 1 rebound
