By Noah Dalton
PAOLI — Mitchell High School will advance to the next round of the 2A Sectional 46 championship tournament after defeating Salem in dominant fashion, 73-41.
The Bluejackets led the entire game, extending that advantage beyond IHSAA’s 35-point threshold to earn a mercy-rule running-clock just seconds into the fourth quarter.
These two teams were not strangers with one another, with the Lions beating Mitchell back in December, 64-50.
Just the Bluejackets’ fifth game of the season, the loss exposed issues with Mitchell’s game, particularly their ability to tackle a zone defense. After that game, other teams saw the game footage and looked to deploy a similar game plan to try to take advantage.
With nearly 20 games played since, many of which were a similar style, it was a different Bluejackets team on Tuesday, one that seemingly had no issues putting up points against whatever defense was thrown their way.
“I’ve talked a lot about that game and what it meant and the things that we had to get over as a team. From people trying to zone us because of that film, I think that’s where it all started,” said Mitchell head coach Clint Roesler. “For us to come out and execute the way we did tonight is exactly how I wanted us to respond from the first game to this game. I’m really proud of our guys for being able to come out and execute that way.”
Though they had nearly a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter, things began to really shift in the Bluejackets’ direction in the second.
After an early bucket to start the quarter from Salem, Mitchell held them without a field goal until there was just a couple minutes left in the half. They went on to outscore the Lions 21-7 in the quarter to take a commanding 23-point lead into the break, 38-15.
The Bluejackets made 54% of their shots in the second quarter, getting a jolt of the bench from Tate Woods, who scored 13 points.
“We talk a lot about trying to be as efficient as possible. I thought we played the full 32 minutes that way, but especially in the second quarter, I thought we executed exceptionally against everything that they threw at us,” said Roesler.
Mitchell carried that momentum into the second half, pulling further and further away into start of the running clock in the fourth quarter, activated by a three-pointer from Woods, effectively sealed the win.
Coming off the bench, Woods finished the night with 26 points to lead all scorers, his highest total in a game this season.
“Credit to Tate. His most efficient game this season by far. He was huge for this win. There’s never a question of his energy and I think everybody on the team knows that,” said Roesler. He had an excellent game. We don’t come out of this game like we did without him and I hope he brings that energy for the next couple of games, that energy and that efficiency, because it’s going to be needed.”
Tuesday’s performance from the Bluejackets was one of their best of the season, coming at the perfect time in the sectional, as the team looks to take home their first win in the event since 1997.
To do so, they’ll first have to take down the #10 ranked team in Indiana’s 2A division, Providence (15-4), who look to be among the best teams in the group.
On their way to Friday’s semi-final matchup against Mitchell, the Pioneers have won eight of their last 10 games, matching the Bluejackets’ record through their recent hot streak.
On the other side of the bracket will be the winner of the other semifinal game between Eastern (Pekin) and the 9th ranked team in 2A, Paoli.
Paoli is a nice team and Providence is a nice team and they’re both ranked opponents for a reason. They’ve beat a lot of good quality basketball teams this year and they both play really different styles of intense defense,” said Roesler.
“I have all the confidence in the world that our guys will bring it from an energy standpoint, but we really have to lock in these next couple of days. What we keep talking about this week is that this is what all 24 games that we play in the regular season are all about. This is win or go home and I don’t think we want to go home.”
Box Score
Mitchell Stats
Points: 73 | FGM: 29/47 | FG%: 61.70% | 3PM: 4/13 | 3P%: 30.77% | FTM: 11/15 | FT%: 73.33% | Rebounds: 29 | Team Turnovers:10
Individual Player Stats for Mitchell:
#2 Austin Mosier – Points: 14 | FGM: 6/12 | FG%: 50.00% | 3PM: 2/6 | 3P%: 33.33% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 4
#1 Aiden Pridemore – Points: 6 | FGM: 2/5 | FG%: 40.00% | 3PM: 0/2 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 3
#40 Nate Robertson – Points: 9 | FGM: 4/6 | FG%: 66.67% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 1/2 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 6
#22 Gavin Robinson – Points: 14 | FGM: 6/8 | FG%: 75.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 2/4 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 8
#12 Carl Chenault – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/1 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 3
#4 Malakai Goodman – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/0 | FG%: 0% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 1
#20 Kaden Mullis – Points: 2 | FGM: 1/1 | FG%: 100.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#3 Tate Woods – Points: 26 | FGM: 9/13 | FG%: 69.23% | 3PM: 2/4 | 3P%: 50.00% | FTM: 6/7 | FT%: 85.71% | Rebounds: 2
#21 Garrett Floerke – Points: | FGM: / | FG%: 0% | 3PM: / | 3P%: 0% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds:
#10 Gavin Martin – Points: | FGM: / | FG%: 0% | 3PM: / | 3P%: 0% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds:
#30 Blake King – Points: | FGM: / | FG%: 0% | 3PM: / | 3P%: 0% | FTM: / | FT%: 0% | Rebounds:
#11 Logan Kender – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 0
Salem Stats
Points: 41 | FGM: 16/50 | FG%: 32.00% | 3PM: 1/19 | 3P%: 5.26% | FTM: 8/11 | FT%: 72.73% | Rebounds: 33 | Team Turnovers: 11
Individual Player Stats for Salem:
#1 Adam Mull – Points: 6 | FGM: 3/6 | FG%: 50.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#3 Payton Schocke – Points: 7 | FGM: 2/13 | FG%: 15.38% | 3PM: 1/6 | 3P%: 16.67% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 0
#11 Evan Loyd – Points: 8 | FGM: 4/5 | FG%: 80.00% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 2
#23 Braxton Dean – Points: 15 | FGM: 7/15 | FG%: 46.67% | 3PM: 0/1 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 1/3 | FT%: 33.33% | Rebounds: 6
#42 Kaiden Romero – Points: 2 | FGM: 0/5 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/11 | 3P%: 0.00% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 3
#14 Jackson Brough – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/3 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 5
#21 Ethan Cambell – Points: 0 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 0/0 | FT%: 0% | Rebounds: 1
32 #Ethan Larrimore – Points: 2 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 2/2 | FT%: 100.00% | Rebounds: 11
#2 Carter Reardon – Points: 1 | FGM: 0/1 | FG%: 0.00% | 3PM: 0/0 | 3P%: 0% | FTM: 1/2 | FT%: 50.00% | Rebounds: 3
