PLAINFIELD — Nearly every time the Greenfield-Central Cougars needed a stop Thursday, Plainfield had an answer.
Down just five points after one quarter of play, the Cougars struggled to tame the Quakers’ hot-shooting offense the rest of the game in a 70-41 loss on the road.
Plainfield finished the game with 14 made 3-point field goals and shot 23 of 36 overall in the regular-season finale for both teams. After knocking down six threes in the opening half on Senior Night, the Quakers never lost confidence and had six players score at least seven points in the win.
Senior forward Tyler West led all scorers with 17 points, while senior guard Jarrett Hufferd added 15 for Plainfield.
Cougars freshman guard Brady Mundell started alongside his older brother Josh Mundell, a senior, on Thursday and both finished with eight points, including four combined threes.
Greenfield-Central senior guard Drey Jameson, junior forward Will O’Connor and junior center Brian Long each added six points in the loss.
Greenfield-Central, which was outscored 17-5 in the third quarter, didn’t shoot poorly in the second half, finishing 7 of 18 from the field. However, it simply couldn’t get back-to-back stops on the defensive end against a balanced Quaker attack, which shot 12 of 20 from the field after halftime.
Plainfield’s full-court press forced Greenfield-Central (11-12) into four first-quarter turnovers, but the Cougars were able to knock down three shots from behind the arc to hang close (18-13).
The Cougars’ offense would go cold to begin the second period, though, as the home team continued to mix up its attack with drives to the basket and shots from deep.
The Quakers (14-9), who honored six seniors before the game, finished the first half 11 of 18 from the field and led 38-24. West led all scorers with 11 points at halftime, while junior guard Trey Davis added eight.
Josh Mundell and Jameson combined to hit four threes for Greenfield-Central in the first half. Mundell led the team, which finished 6-for-16 from the field, with eight points at halftime and Jameson had six. The Cougars shot 2 of 8 in a cold second quarter, while Plainfield was 4 of 7.
Also for the Cougars, freshman Logan Graddy added four points and senior John Davis had two.
Greenfield-Central now turns its focus to a first-round sectional matchup with Pendleton Heights. The Hoosier Heritage Conference champion Arabians topped the Cougars 63-53 on Jan. 27.
