By Noah Dalton
BLOOMFIELD — Mitchell High School’s hot start to their 2024-25 campaign continued on Saturday night, as the Bluejackets bested Eastern Greene 68-51 to remain unbeaten.
The win was not without its obstacles though. Perhaps most notably the third quarter ejection of the team’s head coach Clint Roesler, who picked up two technical fouls in short order in the period.
Prior the that point, Mitchell had led most of the game, often by double digits, but had allowed the Thunderbirds to stick around throughout, particularly in the second quarter when their lead was reduced to four points from the previous high of 12 points early on.
Roesler’s ejection came amidst another rally from Eastern Greene, where they’d once again reduced the lead to single digits, 36-28.
In the aftermath, the Bluejackets shifted into another gear, closing the quarter on a 10-4 run and carrying that momentum through the fourth on their way to a 17-point victory.
“Of course it’s torture sitting in there not being able to know really what’s going on,” Roesler said regarding his ejection.
“But, I told them, I promise you guys, I will fight to the death for you, as long as you keep fighting to the death for me. And I feel like they did that,” he added.
The storm they weathered in the second quarter, when Eastern Greene nearly evened up the score, was one of the three-point variety.
In that period, the Thunderbirds drained four threes, but Mitchell got a points influx of their own from Tate Woods, who came off the bench to score 10 and help keep them in front.
“We knew that Coby [Skyes] and Kyan [Hudson] were very talented players. We knew we had to find them and provide help. I thought for the most part, our guys did that. We had a couple of lapses where we didn’t get a hand up and we weren’t close enough to them, and we paid for that,” said Roesler.
Three Bluejackets finished with 18 points each, those being Woods, Nate Robertson and Gavin Robinson.
Kyan Hudson was the top scorer for the Thunderbirds with 22 points. Also in double figures for them was Coby Sykes, who scored 13.
Now sitting at 3-0 for the season, Mitchell will face their toughest test yet in their next outing in 2A’s 11th ranked team, Linton.
After the success of the school’s football program, who reached the 2A State Championship game last month, their season was delayed and this matchup will now serve as the season opener for the Miners, who finished 18-5 last season in the first year for head coach Matt Britton, including a 60-48 victory over the Bluejackets.
“I feel like we’re right where we wanted to be to start the season. There’s always things that we can work on, but that’s just the coach in me, wanting to be the best as a team we could,” said Roesler.
“Linton, obviously, a talented group. We won’t have the ability to scout them, since we’re their first game since they had such success in football. We’re hoping to maybe take advantage of football legs. They’ll obviously have some film. I know they were here tonight scouting us. We’ll go in expecting a physical battle,” he added.
“I think if we match the intensity and we bring the same energy we’ve brought so far, it should be a really good game.
