By Noah Dalton
PEKIN — Mitchell High School’s 2025-26 season came to an end on Tuesday, with the Bluejackets falling in defeat to Clarksville 48-18 in the opening round of sectional play.
After both teams traded buckets throughout the first quarter, the Generals took control of the game in the second.
They started the quarter scoring seven-straight points, on their way to ultimately outscoring Mitchell 20-4 in the period.
Turnovers plagued the Bluejackets in the first half, with Mitchell giving it away 15 times, 10 of which came during the second quarter. They also went cold from the floor, shooting just 20% (2/10) in the period.
“Turnovers were the name of the game,” said Mitchell head coach Dakota Brasher. “First quarter we only had five or six turnovers and the next quarter we doubled that, and that’s why the score kind of got out of hand.”
On the other hand, Clarksville got going in the second, shooting 56% in the period (9/16). Their charge was spearheaded by Tiarra Lewis, who scored 16 points in the first half, 12 of those points came in the second quarter on five straight makes.
Brasher felt the team’s struggles offensively bled into the way they played on the other end, leading to defensive lapses.
“We still have a problem with letting offense dictate how we play defensively, and it needs to flip, and we’re trying to get that. With young teams, it’s really, really hard,” he said. “It takes a certain kind of person to mature and to do that and we’re getting there, and we see that.”
The Bluejackets’ cold streak continued through the second half, making just two more field goals in the final two quarters as a team, one in the third and one in the fourth.
This allowed the Generals to stay in front by a comfortable margin on their way to the win, advancing them to the second round where they’ll face Crawford County.
Lewis was the top scorer for the night with 20 points. Behind her for Clarksville were Kendra White and Kylie Raggard, who each added eight points.
Raylee Thompson scored a team-high eight points for Mitchell. Also scoring for the Bluejackets were Paisley Modglin (3), Asiah Saunders (2), Leighann Thompson (2) and Raylee Blackwell (3).
Mitchell finishes the season with a final record of 6-17, continuing their streak of improvement under Brasher. The team won one game in his first season in 2023-24 and improved to four wins last year.
With a young team this season with just one senior on the roster, Brasher expects that improvement to continue next season.
This season’s not the end result of us. Even though we lost, it was still a growing year. We’re getting better,” he said
“I know the scoreboard might not look like it, but it’s not about wins and losses. Sometimes it’s about growth, and the growth is there. We’ve got to keep getting better,” he added.
Brasher said he felt the team made noticeable strides during the season, with their understanding of the game being a key area where he felt he’d seen growth.
“Our basketball IQ has just gotten better over time, knowing where to be, how to be in position, not running to girls’ backs and running to open space, which passes to throw, which passes you shouldn’t be throwing, all that stuff. We really progressed throughout the year,” he said.
“We still do silly things,” he continued
“But we’re doing less and less of them, and eventually it will kind of turn over. It will kind of click, and we thought we’d see that this year, and we did see it at times. We just didn’t see a full game this year like we thought we would, but it’s coming, and that’s why they’ve got to stick with it.”
