WINNECONNE – Winneconne’s Grace Mitchell lives in the gym. On days off, she’s trying to get shots up and work on her game.
“If I’m just sitting around doing nothing, I’m like, ‘I could be playing basketball.’ Like why would I not go play basketball,” Mitchell said. “I feel like I’ve always just been that way.”
In Mitchell’s junior season she averaged 17 points, 6.4 rebounds, four assists and 3.6 steals per game. She also helped guide Winneconne to a sectional championship where it lost to eventual state champion, Oostburg.
For those reasons, she’s the 2025-26 Oshkosh, Fond du Lac girls basketball player of the year.
“Grace was a really good basketball player her freshman year and her sophomore year. I do think that the jump that she made from sophomore year to this year was ridiculous,” Winneconne head coach Troy Buelow said. “I can’t think of any part of her game, whether it’s stuff on the court or off the court that did not get better.”
In Mitchell’s sophomore year she averaged 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and three steals per game. All of those numbers improved this past season. But the jump that was the biggest came from beyond the 3-point line. Mitchell shot 27.4% from 3-point range as a sophomore and as a junior shot 43.1% from deep on 130 attempts.
“I think this was the first year where she just shot with confidence,” Buelow said.
That improvement mentally was also noticed as she added more to her plate and became a team captain. With that came added roles, but also an emphasis of how important she was to the team.
“It’s not always the fun role to have, but it’s easy with the teammates I have,” Mitchell said. “There’s nothing I really have to go out of my way to do because everyone works hard every day, does what they need to do.”
With the improved 3-point shot, Mitchell’s took her offensive game to another level. She’s skilled at driving to the basket, can stop and take a mid-range shot when it presents itself and at 5-feet-11-inches tall she has the size, athleticism and pace for any defender that tries to stop her.
Mitchell had a season high of 26 points in a late December game against Lourdes Academy and scored 25 points on multiple occasions. The scoring threat of Mitchell comes in handy for Winneconne as she’s able to power the offense by herself when necessary.
“She carried us through the first game (against Markesan) and she was just the best player on the floor,” Buelow said. “Our first playoff game against Wrightstown, we jumped up like 28-2 on them and I think she scored 20 of those points and she did it by getting steals in the press, by getting to the rim. She hit like three or four 3-pointers.”
Her scoring ability also helps her teammates get open looks as opposing defenses must have a heightened sense of where she is. But it also helps that Mitchell and her teammates are well connected.
“Our chemistry is something that’s pretty good compared to most teams,” Mitchell said. “My grade at least, we’ve been playing together since third grade, so there’s a lot of experience together there and then we all trust each other.”
Mitchell and Winneconne’s season didn’t end with a trip to the state tournament. But Mitchell had the opportunity to participate in the girls 3-point challenge at the Resch Center during the state tournament.
“We’re trying so hard because I’m so out of shape now and we only have one rack like that. Then I found another table that was about the same height. I’d load five balls up on the corner, load five balls up on the next one,” Buelow said. “She’s (former Winneconne girls basketball player Millie Braman) rebounding and throwing them and I’m trying to sprint the carts to the next spot before she would get there. We were mainly just trying to time it out to make sure she had time to get through the minute.”
The hard work of everyone involved paid off as she was one of 10 girls competing and left as the winner.
“The coolest part about that for me was seeing how many people came to support me,” Mitchell said. “I had a whole section of my teammates and just family and friends that came to watch me.”
Mitchell still has her senior season of high school basketball ahead and in the meantime she’s in the gym working on getting better.
“I just want to get stronger, more athletic, I think that’ll go a long way,” Mitchell said. “Just keep working on the little stuff of fundamentals, ball handling. Keep getting shots up and hopefully that will all translate so we can do what we want to do.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at BSchultz@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Winneconne’s Grace Mitchell is Oshkosh, Fond du Lac Girls Basketball Player of the Year
Reporting by Ben Schultz, Oshkosh Northwestern / Oshkosh Northwestern
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
