Mountaineers finish 16-1 in COVID-shortened campaign
Mitchell senior Paige Johnson braces for contact as she drives the lane against Murphy. (MNJ photo/Cory Spiers)
LEDGER — The long, successful run that was the COVID-shortened 2021 season came to an end for the Mitchell High School varsity girls’ basketball team Tuesday, March 2 in the 1A West Regional Finals.
Visiting Murphy beat the Mountaineers 60-46 to end Mitchell’s playoff run and give the team a 16-1 final record.
After cruising through the regular season undefeated, the Mountaineers kept the momentum rolling in the state playoffs, winning 60-13 in the first round over Mountain Island Charter School.
Mitchell then won 64-57 at Hiwassee Dam in the second round and punched a ticket to regionals with a 55-54 victory over visiting Bishop McGuinness.
Mitchell’s loss to Murphy in the regionals looks familiar— the Bulldogs also edged the Mountaineers by one point in the regional round last season.
Murphy led 15-11 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 31-18 at halftime.
Mitchell crept back in, however, outscoring the visitors 16-9 in the third to trim the lead but Murphy put up 20 points in the final quarter compared to Mitchell’s 12 to stay ahead.
Seniors Marley Cloer and Paige Johnson scored 10 points each while senior Jill Pittman and juniors Chandra Jenkins and Savannah Banks all chipped in eight points each.
Jenkins also set team-highs in rebounds (12) and steals (three).
Murphy’s Sarah Pullium and Kaiya Pickens willed the Bulldogs to victory by combining for 36 points. Amber Martin scored 14 for Murphy.
Johnson, Cloer, Pittman, Sparks and Jenkins were the only Mountaineers to appear in all 17 games. Johnson averaged a team-high 13 points per game and Cloer averaged 11.8 per game.
Jenkins and Sparks were the team’s rebounding leaders with 6.4 and 5.8 per game, respectively.
Pittman, who will play college basketball at Brenau University after graduation, led the team in assists with 4.6 per game. Cloer was on her heels with 2.4 assists per game.
Jenkins and Pittman led the team in steals per game with 3.4 and 2.4 per game, respectively.
Mitchell has a 38-7 overall record over the past two seasons, including a 7-2 mark in the state playoffs with both losses coming to Murphy.