LEDGER — The Mitchell High School varsity boys’ basketball team split a pair of home games against Owen and Mountain Heritage this past week.
The Mountaineers (5-5) beat Owen 71-63 on Wednesday, Feb. 3 and fell to Heritage 53-45 on Thursday, Feb. 4.
The team’s loss to Heritage snapped a five-game winning streak. The team, which started the season 0-4, used the winning streak to surge above .500 for the first time of the season before falling to the Cougars.
Mitchell’s win over Owen came after a strong second half effort. The Mountaineers trailed 16-13 after one quarter and 33-30 at halftime but the team outscored Owen 22-16 in the third quarter to sneak into the lead.
The Mountaineers kept the pedal down in the fourth, outscoring the visitors 19-14 to earn the win.
Senior Caius Arrington powered the Mitchell offense with a game-high 32 points. He also led the team in rebounds with seven and assists with four.
Senior Ty Pitman added eight points and Jeremy Sparks chipped in six. Ethan Willis pulled down six rebounds.
Arrington led the way again in the loss to Heritage by posting a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, eight of which came on the defensive side.
Sparks tallied a team-high four assists and pulled down seven rebounds while scoring four points.
Tim Hollifield and Ty Turbyfill added seven points each.
Mitchell was at Madison on Tuesday, Feb. 9 but results were not available at press time.
The team closes the regular season with a home game against Polk (Feb. 12) and a game at Avery (Feb. 15).