By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Mitchell High School welcomed Patoka Lake Athletic Conference opponent Paoli to The Hive on Tuesday, as the two teams squared off in one of the final conference matchups of the season.
The Rams emerged from the matchup victorious, 49-38, largely thanks to a huge third quarter performance, where they managed to outscore the Bluejackets 15-4.
Up until that point, the game was close, with both sides struggling to find offense early on. The first quarter ended with the two teams even at four points each after nearly four scoreless minutes to start play.
Each side was able to find the bottom of the net with more frequency in the second, trading the lead back and forth five times before Paoli managed to grab a narrow two-point advantage by the halftime buzzer.
A different Rams team stepped out of the locker room to begin the second half, beginning the third quarter on an 11-0 run, led by Carley Higgins, who went a perfect 6/6 from the free-throw line in the period after scoring 10 points in the first half.
As Paoli hit their stride, Mitchell’s offensive output reverted to their first-quarter output, connecting on just one field goal attempt in the third, a mid-range jumper from Briley Dicks, with their other two points in the period coming at the free-throw line courtesy of Jillian Bond.
Bluejackets’ head coach Dakota Brasher credited the Rams for their second-half adjustments, which he said helped them end the third quarter with a 13-point lead.
“They came out and then and they made adjustments and we and we had trouble adjusting to what they did there early on. Stuff that we’ve talked about, stuff that we have prepared them for, that ultimately we just weren’t in the right spots at times and that falls on me,” he said.
“I regret not taking the time out earlier in the third quarter, but at the same time, there comes a time where we have to figure it out. They say a player-coached team is better than a coach-coached team and in a moment like that, to be really good at this, you’ve got to have a player step up before a coach does and try to let them figure that out and and let them play through a little adversity.”
The fourth quarter was a better showing for Mitchell, outscoring Paoli 18-16, though it ultimately wasn’t enough to erase the prior deficit, with Bond scoring 15 in the period. She finished the night as the team’s top scorer with 21 points, adding 12 rebounds.
The only player to outscore her in the game was Higgins, who bested her by one point, scoring 22.
Brasher said his team’s biggest strength offensively in the first half, where they were able to gain a lead over the Rams multiple times, was their ability to attack closeouts and play aggressively. He felt they strayed away from that in the second half, which paired with the performance of Higgins, helped make up the difference.
“We were aggressive in the first half offensively. We were attacking closeouts. We were playing out of what we call one mores. We were playing on drive and kicks and we were shooting the shots that we were supposed to shoot. In the second half, it got stagnant a little bit and I think we got away from shooting the shots that were supposed to shoot. I want our girls shooting catch and shoot threes and we got away from that a little bit in the second half,” said Brasher.
“Defensively. We played really, really hard. Really lock down defense in the first half. Higgins, really, really good player. We played her pretty well in the first half. Second half, they did some things differently and we had trouble guarding it.”
Mitchell, now 1-20 on the season, have just two more regular season games left. The next game will be against Salem (5-15) on Jan. 20 at 1:30 p.m. They’ll close the season at home against PLAC opponent Orleans (17-2) for what will be the team’s Senior Night.
Stats
Mitchell
- Jillian Bond: 21 points, 6/12 shooting, 9/16 FT, 12 rebounds
- Briley Dicks: 2 points, 1/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Leighann Thompson: 2 points, 1/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Anna Sowders: 2 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Paisley Modglin: 8 points, 3/10 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Jorja Lamm: 3 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/2 FT, 1 rebound
- Davaney Roop: 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
Paoli
- Maddie Vernon: 4 points, 0/1 shooting, 4/6 FT, 1 rebound
- Lilly Hall: 12 points, 4/9 shooting, 2/2 FT, 4 rebounds
- Jericho Hooper: 8 points, 3/9 shooting, 2/4 FT, 6 rebounds
- Anna Radcliff: 0 points, 0/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Carley Higgins: 22 points, 7/14 shooting, 8/10 FT, 6 rebounds
- Addie Payton: 2 points, 1/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Avery Crews: 1 point, 0/2 shooting, 1/2 FT, 4 rebounds
