Mitchell leads Blue Eye past Cassville, 76-49
December 12, 2018
Lee Stubblefield
The Blue Eye Bulldogs took a bite out of Cassville’s season Tuesday night, claiming a 76-49 victory over the Wildcats.
The Cassville Middle School gym served as the setting for this non-conference clash. The Bulldogs entered the contest with a 4-2 record, while Cassville owned a 3-2 slate. Barrett Milleson’s team was still searching for its identity after bookending the Marionville Tournament title with losses to Berryville and Neosho.
Back on December 4, Blue Eye drilled Berryville, 58-44. That’s the same Berryville team that handed Cassville a 74-65 season-opening loss. Based on that one common opponent, Blue Eye was favored going into Tuesday’s game. The Bulldogs also owned a decided height advantage, and a serious shooting threat named Andrew Mitchell.
When the final horn blew on Tuesday night, Mitchell had scored 34 points, including 8 treys. Eight. Treys.
A fiercely contested first quarter saw Cassville leading 5-2 at the 4:13 mark. Blue Eye’s Nathan Garnett tied the game with a long corner shot, and then Mitchell swished a long straight on three to give the Bulldogs the lead.
The Wildcats would tie the game at 11-11 on a DJ White drive, but Mitchell reloaded to put Blue Eye back in front. The Bulldogs held a 16-13 lead at the first break.
Carson Roller pulled Cassville back to a tie, hitting a cornet trey to open the second quarter, Mitchell answered with back-to-back bombs, forcing Milleson to call for time. Roller hit another long shot out of the time out, and Cassville trailed by just 22-19.
Both teams changed defenses after the brief break. The Wildcats came out of their zone, putting White on Mitchell. The Bulldogs stuck to their 2-3 zone, but widened their backline coverage to deny Roller’s spot shooting.
Cassville’s defensive switch slowed MItchell’s scoring pace but opened up mismatches for his supporting cast. Both Lance Clark and Jake Reagan scored from outside, and then Mitchell popped a buzzer-beater trey to give Blue Eye a 39-21 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Blue Eye pulled away. Mitchell added 9 more points to his scoring line, and Reagan contributed 7 in a 21-12 quarter controlled by the Bulldogs. Ethan Hoppes scored 6 for Cassville in that period. Blue Eye held a commanding 60-33 lead at the final break.
The Bulldogs flirted with a running clock throughout the last quarter, but Cassville chipped and whittled at that big lead just enough to avoid the mercy rule. The clock did run briefly when a Mitchell jumper gave Blue Eye a 72-41 lead at the 3:51 mark, but Jake Thomas buried a long three for Cassville on the very next possession.
A foul-plagued ending saw Blue Eye claim the 76-49 decision.
Blue Eye improved to 5-2 with the win, while Cassville slipped to 3-3. The Wildcats travel to Purdy on Friday night.
Cassville scorers: Ethan Hoppes, 15; Carson Roller, 13; DJ White, 7; Dane Martin, 5; Andrew Littlefield, 4; Jake Thomas, 3; Luke Lowery, 2.
Blue Eye scorers: Andrew Mitchell, 34; Nathan Garnett, 17; Jake Reagan, 10; Ethan Webb, 4; Hayden Forester, 4; Lance Clark, 3; Chase McClenathan, 2; and Isaiah Mitchell, 2.
Lee Stubblefield
The Blue Eye Bulldogs took a bite out of Cassville’s season Tuesday night, claiming a 76-49 victory over the Wildcats.
The Cassville Middle School gym served as the setting for this non-conference clash. The Bulldogs entered the contest with a 4-2 record, while Cassville owned a 3-2 slate. Barrett Milleson’s team was still searching for its identity after bookending the Marionville Tournament title with losses to Berryville and Neosho.
Back on December 4, Blue Eye drilled Berryville, 58-44. That’s the same Berryville team that handed Cassville a 74-65 season-opening loss. Based on that one common opponent, Blue Eye was favored going into Tuesday’s game. The Bulldogs also owned a decided height advantage, and a serious shooting threat named Andrew Mitchell.
When the final horn blew on Tuesday night, Mitchell had scored 34 points, including 8 treys. Eight. Treys.
A fiercely contested first quarter saw Cassville leading 5-2 at the 4:13 mark. Blue Eye’s Nathan Garnett tied the game with a long corner shot, and then Mitchell swished a long straight on three to give the Bulldogs the lead.
The Wildcats would tie the game at 11-11 on a DJ White drive, but Mitchell reloaded to put Blue Eye back in front. The Bulldogs held a 16-13 lead at the first break.
Carson Roller pulled Cassville back to a tie, hitting a cornet trey to open the second quarter, Mitchell answered with back-to-back bombs, forcing Milleson to call for time. Roller hit another long shot out of the time out, and Cassville trailed by just 22-19.
Both teams changed defenses after the brief break. The Wildcats came out of their zone, putting White on Mitchell. The Bulldogs stuck to their 2-3 zone, but widened their backline coverage to deny Roller’s spot shooting.
Cassville’s defensive switch slowed MItchell’s scoring pace but opened up mismatches for his supporting cast. Both Lance Clark and Jake Reagan scored from outside, and then Mitchell popped a buzzer-beater trey to give Blue Eye a 39-21 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Blue Eye pulled away. Mitchell added 9 more points to his scoring line, and Reagan contributed 7 in a 21-12 quarter controlled by the Bulldogs. Ethan Hoppes scored 6 for Cassville in that period. Blue Eye held a commanding 60-33 lead at the final break.
The Bulldogs flirted with a running clock throughout the last quarter, but Cassville chipped and whittled at that big lead just enough to avoid the mercy rule. The clock did run briefly when a Mitchell jumper gave Blue Eye a 72-41 lead at the 3:51 mark, but Jake Thomas buried a long three for Cassville on the very next possession.
A foul-plagued ending saw Blue Eye claim the 76-49 decision.
Blue Eye improved to 5-2 with the win, while Cassville slipped to 3-3. The Wildcats travel to Purdy on Friday night.
Cassville scorers: Ethan Hoppes, 15; Carson Roller, 13; DJ White, 7; Dane Martin, 5; Andrew Littlefield, 4; Jake Thomas, 3; Luke Lowery, 2.
Blue Eye scorers: Andrew Mitchell, 34; Nathan Garnett, 17; Jake Reagan, 10; Ethan Webb, 4; Hayden Forester, 4; Lance Clark, 3; Chase McClenathan, 2; and Isaiah Mitchell, 2.