Strong late, Plainfield South closes out 50-47 win over Morris

MORRIS – The nonconference boys basketball game between Morris and Plainfield South on Wednesday night was, in many ways, indicative of the seasons the two teams have had.

For Morris, a strong start followed by a disappointing finish. For Plainfield South, up and down before toughing it out in the end.

Morris got off to an early lead and held the advantage at the midway point, but the Cougars came out strong in the second half to earn a competitive 50-47 win.

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Plainfield South’s Karrem Parker throws down a dunk against Morris on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 in Morris. (Gary Middendorf)

Plainfield South (15-7) has had a strong season overall, albeit a bit of a roller-coaster ride. An 8-1 start was followed by four straight losses and three straight wins. The Cougars are 3-2 since.

On Wednesday, the Cougars found themselves behind 8-2 early before clawing back to take an 11-10 advantage. A Brett Bounds layup with four seconds left gave Morris a 12-11 lead after one quarter.

The second quarter was competitive, but Morris still controlled the game entering the locker room before the Cougars pulled through in the final two periods.

“We just picked up our defense [in the second half],” Plainfield South senior Brilan Townsend said. “That was pretty much the key. We were patient with things on offense, and then we just guarded on the defensive end.”

Morris (8-15) has had an up-and-down season in a sense, as well, but it’s been far more down as of late. Morris lost 10 of 11 – including seven in a row – before beating Newark on Monday.

Things were looking good early Wednesday, too. After a layup by Townsend to start the second quarter put the Cougars up, Jack Wheeler answered right away with a putback, and Bounds followed with a 3-pointer to get Morris back in business with a 17-13 lead.

A Townsend 3-pointer later gave the Cougars a 20-18 edge, but a layup by Wheeler and a free throw by Luis Loza put Morris up 21-20 with 16 minutes to play.

The Cougars came alive from there, however, leading by as many as eight in the second half.

“I’m proud of our effort,” Morris coach Joe Blumberg said. “I felt like we controlled the pace and compacted our 1-3-1 to keep [Kareem Parker] in check. I’m happy with that.

“We just had too many turnovers, too many empty possessions in a one-, two-possession game. Every possession’s big, and we turned it over in some key spots. I give their pressure credit, but we need to learn to handle the ball a little bit better in key spots.”

The second half started in Morris' favor. Bounds hit a 3 right away, but the Cougars proceeded to go on a 14-2 run to take a 34-26 lead. Three-pointers by RJ Kennedy and Jack Wheeler stopped the bleeding, but a layup by Parker still had the Cougars up 36-32 entering the final quarter.

The two squads battled from there, with Morris getting as close as 38-35 before layups by Glenn Harper and Corey Nobles made it a seven-point game. The Cougars led by as much as 45-37 before a few late 3s fell for Morris.

Wheeler made a buzzer-beating layup to make it a one-score game in the end, but that was as close as Morris managed to come.

Parker finished with 15 points, Townsend scored 11, and Nobles and Joell Tunnat each had seven.

Morris was led by Wheeler’s 16 points and Bounds' 15. Wheeler also corralled six rebounds.

With seven games left in the regular season for Morris and six for Plainfield South, the postseason is approaching quickly. Townsend expressed optimism that Wednesday would help catapult Plainfield South through the rest of its schedule.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I’m ready to get a good playoff seed and see how far we can get in the playoffs.”