By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL — Mitchell High School took on Patoka Lake Athletic Conference foe Paoli on Tuesday, as they near the end of the regular season.
PLAC play has proven difficult for both sides this season, with neither having a victory within the conference heading into the game. Both teams held a conference record of 0-4.
By the final buzzer, the Rams were the ones who left the night with their first PLAC win, having beat the Bluejackets 45-12.
Paoli got off to a hot start and did not look back.
They scored the 12 points of the game, ending the first quarter leading 22-4.
Mitchell knocked down their first shot, a three from Raylee Blackwell, with around two minutes left in the period.
Scoring slowed down quite a bit for the Rams in the second, with them only scoring five points in the quarter, though they held the Bluejackets to just four points again to hold on to their sizable lead.
Shooting struggles plagued the night for Mitchell, but particularly in the second half.
The Bluejackets scored just four points in the final two quarters, shooting 1/16, with the lone make coming from Hailee Hall in the fourth quarter.
Hall was the leading scorer on the night for Mitchell with four points. Blackwell and Abigail Fountain each scored three points and Kaylynn Kohlhaas added two points to make up the scoring for the Bluejackets.
Paoli had two scorers in double figures, Briza Zapien, who led all scorers for the night with 12 points, and Maddie Vernon, who scored 10 points.
Mitchell will close the regular season on Jan. 27 against PLAC-leading Orleans, who are unbeaten in conference play, with an impressive 16-2 overall record.
