By Noah Dalton
ELNORA – After an 0-9 start to their season, Mitchell High School earned their first win of the year on Saturday, beating Clay City 52-34 in their second game of tournament action at North Daviess, after dropping their first matchup of the event against Rock Creek Academy.
The Bluejackets kept things tight early against the Lions in game one, trailing by seven at the end of the first quarter, before narrowing the gap to five, 26-21, at the half. In the third, Rock Creek extended their lead to eight, behind a seven-point quarter from Shanelle Jones, who went 3/4 from the field during that stretch. Jones and the Lions would go on to take the game 61-50.
Leading Rock Creek in scoring was Aleyah Brown, who tallied up 18 points, shooting 63% from the field. For Mitchell, Jillian Bond and Anna Sowders both scored 15 in game one to lead the way for their team.
In game two, the Bluejackets traded the advantage back and forth with Clay City before entering the half trailing by three, 24-21. They stormed back in the third, reclaiming a three-point lead of their own, 35-32, before running away with it in the fourth, outscoring the Eels 18-2 to close out the game.
Mitchell earned their fourth-quarter advantage at the free-throw line, making 11/14 from the stripe, while holding Clay City without a made field goal in the fourth, with the team scoring their only two points of the quarter from the free-throw line.
Bond led the way for the Bluejackets in their victory, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 boards for a double-double. Lulu Koehler was the Eels top scorer with nine.
Now 1-9 for the season, Mitchell will next play on Tuesday, when they’ll hit the road to take on Eastern Pekin (0-7).
