LEDGER — The Mitchell High School varsity girls’ basketball team continued its strong start by registering a pair of wins this past week over R-S Central and Owen.
The Mountaineers (3-0) beat visiting R-S Central 52-45 on Wednesday, Jan. 13 and followed with a 62-45 road win over Owen on Friday, Jan. 15.
Mitchell trailed R-S Central 12-6 after one quarter but trimmed the deficit to 23-21 at halftime. The Mountaineers came out strong in the third quarter and outscored the visitors 31-22 in the second half to earn the win.
Senior Marley Cloer led the team with 12 points while Reagan Sparks added 11 points and a team-high 15 rebounds.
Chandra Jenkins had a team-high five steals. Senior guard Jill Pittman chipped in nine points to complement her team-high four assists.
The Mountaineers did not start slowly against Owen, roaring out to an 18-4 lead after one quarter.
The Mountaineers led 37-17 at halftime and cruised through the second half en route to the win.
Mitchell shot 41.5 percent from the field while holding Owen to 24.5 percent shooting.
Cloer paced the Mountaineers again with a game-high 19 points. She was 8-for-13 from the field.
Senior Paige Johnson poured in 17 points while going 8-for-16 from the field and Pittman scored 11 points and led the way in assists with four.
Sparks led Mitchell in rebounding again with eight boards. She also added three steals.
Mitchell was scheduled to play at Mountain Heritage on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Results were not available at press time.
The Mountaineers come home to host Madison (Jan. 21) and Smoky Mountain (Jan. 23) before hitting the road for a conference game at Polk (Jan. 26).
Boys’ basketball
The Mitchell High varsity boys’ basketball team is still searching for its first win of the season after taking a pair of losses to R-S Central and Owen this past week.
The Mountaineers fell 80-53 at home to R-S Central on Jan. 13 and then were edged 81-76 by Owen on the road on Jan. 15.
Senior Caius Arrington led Mitchell with 18 points and 13 rebounds against R-S Central. Seniors Ty Pitman and Jeremy Sparks combined for 13 points.
In the loss at Owen, Arrington poured in a season-high and team-leading 30 points to complement 12 rebounds.
Sparks scored 11 and added a team-high four assists and Ty Turbyfill scored 10 points.