By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Mitchell High School are still looking for their first win of the season after the Bluejackets fell to Brownstown-Central 51-27 on Friday, putting them at 0-5 to start their season.
The score was tight for much of the first half, with Mitchell narrowly trailing until they were able to take their first lead of the game with just over six minutes remaining in the second quarter thanks to a three-pointer from Paisley Modglin, which made the score 15-13.
From there, the Braves offense found another gear, closing the half on a 14-0 run, giving them a sizeable lead that they’d carry on to the final buzzer.
Bluejackets’ head coach Dakota Brasher credited Brownstown, who have won four straight sectional championships, for their second-quarter run, which ultimately paved the way for their victory. Brasher also noted his decision to switch to a zone defense in the second quarter, which he said led to more open looks for the Braves.
“Credit to their team. I believe they’ve won four sectional championships in a row and that’s a testament to their coach and their system and how they play. They’re big, they’re athletic, they’ve got some girls that can really shoot the ball,” he said.
“We want to a zone there in the second quarter and part of that run is my fault. We haven’t necessarily worked on transition defense plan in that zone, so that’s all me. We just need to talk through those things beforehand. So, that’s on me, that played a part in that run. They just got some open looks that they weren’t getting in the first quarter. We had some girls in foul trouble that we tried to limit, that’s why we went zone so that’s what played into their run. We’ll learn from it and we’ll get better.”
Though their efforts haven’t yet been rewarded with a win, Mitchell’s improvement since the beginning of the season was on display in this game, as well as their previous matchup against Logootee.
In their first three games, which included matchups against two of last year’s state champions in Lanesville and Bedford North Lawrence, the Bluejackets averaged just 14 points per game, allowing nearly 66 points on average.
In their last two, Mitchell has more than doubled their scoring output, putting up 47 against Logootee and 27 last night, for an average of 37 ppg, while allowing 52.5 ppg across the two games.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our girls have. I challenge our group. I’m a big believer in conflict and I’m not saying me arguing with them or whatever. I’m challenging you to get better and our girls are responding in the right way, in a positive way. And the group we have, I couldn’t be more proud of how we are progressing,” said Brasher. “Now, I’m still upset that we’re losing games. There’s a difference between being proud and being upset. I still do not like to lose. We’re still competitors in nature. Somebody’s gonna win, somebody’s gonna lose. But I am extremely proud of the group of girls that we have.”
Brasher also noted how this recent improvement can impact the team’s mentality going forward, giving them a more positive outlook on their season, as well as some additional motivation to continue working hard.
“It does grow confidence. But I think it also grows competitiveness to come in and work harder. I think these girls realize that we’re closer than what they might think they are and what they might think we are. We’re very, very close to getting over the hump,” he said. “Playing games like this where they see that we’re in it and we can play we can compete and we’ve got shots and we’ve got chances to win against some really good programs, that motivates our girls to get better.”
The Bluejackets will play the following night, welcoming Barr-Reeve to Mitchell on Saturday.
Stats
Mitchell
- Jillian Bond – 12 points, 3/15 shooting, 6/9 FT, 5 rebounds
- Briley Dicks – 4 points, 2/8 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Leighann Thompson – 2 points, 1/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Paisley Modglin – 9 points, 3/7 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Jorja Lamm – 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 4 rebounds
- Gwen Eastridge – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Daveney Roop – 0 points, 0/0 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
Brownstown
- Kelsey Schneider – 0 points, 0/4 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Kinzee Dean – 4 points, 2/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Addison Darlage – 7 points, 3/6 shooting, 0/0 FT, 5 rebounds
- Mallory Klosterman – 6 points, 2/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 1 rebound
- Jenna Klosterman – 5 points, 2/3 shooting, 0/0 FT, 4 rebound
- Jada Miller – 0 points, 0/2 shooting, 0/0 FT, 2 rebounds
- Sophie Wischmeier – 12 points, 4/11 shooting, 4/4 FT, 5 rebounds
- Hailey Hobson – 2 points, 1/5 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Harley Toppe – 14 points, 6/10 shooting, 0/0 FT, 3 rebounds
- Kassidy Wischmeier – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/2 FT, 3 rebounds
- Hunter Trueblood – 0 points, 0/1 shooting, 0/0 FT, 0 rebounds
- Kassie Helton – 1 point, 0/1 shooting, 1/2 FT, 1 rebound
