Offensive struggles doom Mitchell in Class AA quarterfinal overtime loss to Fulton

Khari Thompson
Memphis Commercial Appeal

MURFREESBORO — Mitchell suffered its lowest-scoring game of the season in its 44-41 overtime Class AA boys basketball quarterfinal loss to Fulton on Wednesday. 

The Tigers shot 41 percent from the field, 11 percent from 3-point range and 40 percent on free throws. 

"It’s tough, it’s an extremely tough loss and you just have to look at it for what it is, you know, we had the opportunity to make some shots," said Mitchell coach Andre Turner. "We had to make a few more shots. We had to take care of the basketball a little bit more and things might be a little bit different."

Before Wednesday, the lowest the Tigers had scored in a game was 44 in a Feb. 13 win over Craigmont. The Tigers were held under 55 points 12 times this season. 

"We haven’t had a great shooting season at all. Our grind is our defense. It’s where we lay our hat on," said Turner. 

The Rice twins, senior guards Michael and Mikell, scored 31 of Mitchell's 41 points. Michael led the Tigers with 17. Mikell scored 14.

“It’s fun, playing with my brother," said Michael. "We’ve got a real connection on the court, especially on defense. We key in on the key players and it’s just really that connection.”

Mitchell's Mikell Rice looks to shoot the ball over Fulton's Edward Lacy during the TSSAA Division I basketball state tournament in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.

Ron Davis III, who led Fulton with 18 points, said that the twins were the "push" that made Mitchell go. He also said that he knew coming in that points would be hard to come by. 

"That was probably our lowest-scoring game," Davis said. "We knew they had a great defensive team. We knew it was going to be who can play defense more and who could get past 45."

Mitchell led 15-14 at the half and the game was tied at 31 at the end of regulation. Davis  scored eight points in overtime to seal the win for Fulton. Mitchell missed a 3-pointer with one second left. 

Fulton advances to play East Nashville on Friday at 10 a.m in the Class AA semifinals. 

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