
By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – Mitchell High School was back in action on Thursday night, taking on South Central (Elizabeth) at The Hive.
The Bluejackets fell 78-69 to the Rebels, who were led by a standout performance from senior guard Cole Thomas, who scored 52 points.
Thomas scored 26 of his points in the first half helping to hoist South Central up 40-27 at the break. He continued scoring at a high volume in the third, adding 11 more to his point total to help the
Rebels bolster their advantage up to as many as 22 points in the period.
Thomas finished the night shooting just under 62%. from the floor (16/26) including going 6/10 from beyond the arc, as well as 14-15 from the free-throw line.
“[Thomas] is a nice player. He’s a leader and it showed tonight,” said Mitchell head coach Clint Roesler.
“I felt like we were ready to take on that matchup. I felt like we were ready to defend but for whatever reason we came out and we didn’t do some of the things that we talked about in game planning with how to defend some actions,” he added about the matchup against Thomas.

After trailing by double digits much of the night, Mitchel mounted a comeback in the fourth to try to make their way back into the game.
With around two minutes left to play, Austin Mosier drained a three to help the Bluejackets bring the lead down to just six points, 70-64.
They seemed to have momentum on their site, but again it was Thomas, sinkinga three of his own shorty atter, that stood in the way.
The final nail in Mitchell’s coffin was hammered after after another scoring effort from the Bluejackets.

Down seven points and needing a quick stop with just under a minute left to play, an offensive foul called against the Rebels gave Mitchell possession of the ball and the chance to cut it down to a one score game.
That opportunity was never realized though, as a technical foul against Mitchell, called after the foul against South Central, gave the Rebels two free throws, which were buried be Thomas, as well as possession of the ball, now up nine points.
The technical was the team’s second of the night, a point of disappointment for Roesler, despite his team’s strong effort in the fourth, where they outscored South Central 23 -16.
“I appreciate the fact that we came and we battled back and kept fighting. That’s good to a certain point,” said Roesler.
“We’ve got to quit beating ourselves and it starts with leadership. That’s the thing that we’ve been preaching and trying to build. When our top guys are as focused on the game at hand and what their jobs are, instead of the officiating, then we’ll be in good hands,” he added.

Thomas’ 52 led both sides in scoring by a wide margin. Peyton Tyree was also in double figures for the Rebels, with 13 points.
The Bluejackets were led by Gavin Robinson, who scored 22 points. Also for Mitchell, Aiden Pridemore scored 13 points with Nate Robertson adding 10.