Bradshaw and Mitchell named all-regional tournament
A pair of Panthers were named to the Fourth Region All-Tournament team Tuesday, immediately after Bowling Green’s three-point win over Barren County in the championship game.
Junior Pedro Bradshaw and senior Jason Mitchell were named all-stars.
In the Panthers’ 70-69 loss to Russell County in the opening round, Bradshaw had 27 points and 12 rebounds. He added a pair of assists and a blocked shot. He hit 8 of 11 field goal attempts and 10 of 10 free throws.
Bradshaw was credited with hitting his only 3-point attempt, but one shot that didn’t count as a miss because of a foul will always be remembered. With the Panthers trailing by four, he attempted a shot with less than a second remaining and was fouled on the shot. The ball went in and came out. Had it stayed in, the free throw would have been for a tie. Instead Bradshaw hit all three free throws, leaving Coach Phil Todd’s team behind by a point.
Mitchell scored 13 points and had 3 rebounds. He was 4 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 8 from long range. He was 2 of 4 at the line. He had no assists, steals or blocks, but to his credit he didn’t make a turnover. The Panthers only made seven as a team.
One of his rebounds came when the Lakers’ Keenan Jordan missed the front end of a bonus immediately after Bradshaw hit the three free throws. He handed the ball to an official instead of attempting a desperation length-of-the-court shot, and the season ended.
In the first 24 games of the season (RHS didn’t report statistics to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association for the last two losses after the win over Logan County in the district tournament), Bradhaw averaged 21 points per game. He had shot 57.6 percent (151 of 262). Only 21 of his 504 points had come on 3-pointers made. He had hit 154 free throws on 203 attempts (75.9 percent). Bradshaw was one of the top rebounders in the state, pulling down 291 for an average of 12.1 per game.
Mitchell averaged 11.7 points while playing 21 of those 24 games. Of Mitchell’s 245 points, 87 had come on 3-pointers. His shooting percentage was 48.8 (82 of 168). Included in that was a sparkling 40.8 percent (29 of 71) on 3-point goals. He hit 22 free throws, about one a game, in 40 attempts, for 55 percent. Mitchell averaged 4.5 rebounds an outing.
Mitchell, who also had an excellent football season for Coach John Myers’ state semifinalist team, was one of only two seniors on the 18-win team, along with reserve Ricky Bellamy.
Bradshaw is one of 12 juniors on the roster, including starters Micah Naylor, Jaylyn McMurry and Paul Jones.