By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Tuesday night was Mitchell High School’s first home game in nearly a month, ending a five-game streak of games on the road.
Subsequently, the night’s matchup against Shoals marked the final game of the season at The Hive for the Bluejackets’ who used the night to honor the team’s five seniors: Dawson Irwin, Ben Seitzinger, Kale England, Bryson Shoults and Ethan Turner.
According to head coach Jackson Ryan, it was important for the team to send them out on a win in their final home outing, a goal which was successfully accomplished with a 46-33 victory over the Jug Rox.
Ryan, in his fourth season leading the program, noted this group is the first he’ll see graduate that began under his leadership.
With this win making 11 on the season to this point for Mitchell, it’s the most successful of Ryan’s years at the school.
Through the good of a season like this, or the bad of a year like Ryan’s first, where the team only won 3 total games, this group has been with him through it all and continued to work hard each day to get to where they are now, something Ryan does not take for granted.
“It’s my first group that I’ve had from start to finish. And, the first year we won three varsity basketball games. So, to stick with it, and continue to buy in and continue to do the right things on and off the court, even when things are tough. I’m just forever indebted to this group, because they’ve stuck with it,” he said. “And because of that, you reap what you sow and you’re seeing them reap the reward from all the hard work and their commitment to each other in this program.”
This group of seniors was great, not only for what they brought to the program on the court but for what they brought off the court as well, according to Ryan, who said he’s excited to see what the next chapter of life holds for his graduating players.
“I can’t tell you how much of a relief it is that I don’t have to worry about their grades. I don’t have to worry about what they’re doing on a Saturday night. I don’t have to keep tabs on them. They’re just great young men who come from great families,” he said.
“We have tonight, we have the next couple of weeks. What I look forward to the most is once this chapter is done, seeing them go to school, seeing them get married, seeing them have kids.”
Despite a 13-point margin of victory, things weren’t as easy for the Bluejackets on the night as they may appear.
Things were locked fairly even throughout the first half, with the two sides exchanging leads back and forth a few times throughout the two quarters. Shoals led at the end of the first period and for much of the second, before Mitchell got back in front, ultimately finishing the first half with a one-point advantage in what had been a low-scoring game to that point, 16-15.
It was the second half, primarily the third quarter, that sealed the deal for the Bluejackets, who were able to get the job done thanks to some solid defense.
Mitchell managed to only allow three points in the third, forcing seven turnovers, one shy of their eight takeaways in the entire first half, converting many of them to transition buckets on the other end.
As the third quarter ended, the Bluejackets held an eight-point lead, that they’d hang on to for the rest of the game.
In another strong showing in the fourth, Mitchell outscored the Jug Rox 19-15, despite a heroic effort from Shoals Brydon McKibben, who erupted for 10 points in the fourth.
“In the first half, it was kind of back and forth and we’re not used to playing like that. We really like to try to pick the pace up and go and use our depth and unfortunately, we weren’t doing that in the first half,” said Ryan
“I think we locked in a little bit more defensively in the third quarter, and then our defense led to our offense, and once we get those two things feeding off of each other, we can get up and down a little bit. That opens things up for us. So, a great win considering the style of play that we had to use to get here.”
Fittingly, it was the Bluejackets’ seniors who led them to victory.
They were led in scoring on the night by Irwin, who finished with 16 points, scoring six in the fourth. Together, the senior group combined for 17 of their 19 points in the fourth to close out the win, with Seitzinger adding four points, England with two points and Shoults with five points.
Irwin’s efforts earned him 102.5 Lite FM’s Player of the Game honors, something he said meant a bit more in his final home game at the school.
“On my senior night, that’s amazing. Being Player of the Game and honestly, just these guys. They’ve been here, I transferred in, but for me, it’s been like day one,” he said. “It was nice to play good tonight.”
It was the first game back for Seitzinger, who missed the last few games with a concussion. Making his return to the lineup on senior night, particularly with sectionals on the horizon, with their opening round matchup against South Knox scheduled for Feb. 28, he was glad to be back.
“I was definitely excited to be back. It’s been pretty boring. There’s only so much you can do sitting on the bench. But I was just excited, really just to get back,” said Seitzinger.
Also recently returning from injury is Shoults, who made his official return to the lineup in their previous outing against Edgewood. As he nursed an ankle injury, he said his focus was to stick by his teammates and assist in any way he could from the sidelines.
“Just keep going, just stick together. The guys, I don’t know, maybe need me a little bit. But at the same time, they held it up till I got back and now we’re clicking,” said Shoults. “I just love this team. We’re the most together group I’ve ever seen and had.”
The team chemistry was echoed by Turner, who was unable to play in the matchup against Shoals, who said he was confident in the team’s ability to make a postseason run this year, following the team earning their first sectional win in twelve years last season against North Knox.
“I just love this team to death. I think probably my favorite team I’ve been a part of, friendship-wise. All of us are really close and I think we have a real shot at making something special happen in the postseason this year. So just keep your eye out for the Mitchell Bluejackets,” Turner said.
England said he was happy to get the win over a tough opponent in Shoals, which includes a former teammate of his, fellow senior Maliki Bridges, who scored nine for the Jug Rox.
“Obviously, they have Maliki (Bridges) and I played a year with him, he’s obviously a very good player. Everyone else is just, they’re hustlers. I mean, that’s just a good hustling team that is not afraid to be physical with you and do whatever it takes. So I was glad that we pulled the win off in this,” England said.
Next, the Bluejackets will set their sights on Scottsburg, the #1 ranked team in 3A and their final regular season opponent this year.
Ryan said the team will need to be on their A-game against a Warriors team that will be hungry to get a win on their own senior night on Friday, which will be their final home game of the season.
“Eventually in the state tournament, we’re gonna run into a Linton, we’re gonna run into a Brownstown and Scottsburg is on that same level. So just another step in getting us ready for hopefully the next week, the next two weeks, where we want to go. Just use that to grow and to get better. There’s stuff that they’re going to do offensively and defensively that I can’t simulate in practice, even in my wildest dreams,” said Ryan.
“They’re number one in 3A for a reason and it’s their senior night. We’re gonna have to come in there with the attitude that we’re not going to back down and we’re going to be ready to go and throw records, throw everything out the window, and we’ve got to play.”
