GREENFIELD — The score wasn’t in their favor, but the Greenfield-Central Cougars felt the appreciation from the crowd on Wednesday night.
With 54 seconds left on the clock, and the Cougars facing an inevitable 58-42 loss to Class 4A Plainfield on Senior Night, coach Luke Meredith pulled his starting five to be recognized.
The fans did just that for seniors Brock Wheeler, Jake Cochran, Brady Mundell, Caleb Mundell and Tyler Antic.
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“That’s what it’s all about. These kids. It’s about me being their coach this year, but it’s more than just four quarters. It’s texting them throughout their lives. I still have kids at Avon and Ben Davis I communicate with, and I’m sure it’s going to be the same with these five young men,” Greenfield-Central head coach Luke Meredith said.
“They’re just good kids that I hope one day my boys are as good as what they do and how they act.”
The seniors have seen more than enough in their careers and continue to leave their legacy.
From a 4-20 season last year to a turnaround in 2019-20, the Cougars leaders helped establish what coach Meredith believes will be a successful future at Greenfield-Central.
“From where we were to where we’ve been, 12 wins for these seniors,” Meredith said. “Caleb and Brady Mundell are great leaders. They are great young men. Brady is more of a vocal leader and Caleb is more of a guy who shows you how to do it.
“But really, all of them. Brock, Jake, Tyler, everything we’ve wanted them to do, they have.”
Despite the loss to Plainfield, the Cougars are 12-10 on the season — the best mark the program has reached since finishing 12-13 in 2016-17. More importantly, they snapped their Hoosier Heritage Conference losing streak that stretched three years.
With a game against HHC foe Delta tonight to end the year, the Cougars could tie for second place in the standings with a 3-3 league record before the regular-season finale on the road.
What they hope not to carry with them is a repeat of Wednesday’s first half. The Cougars opened the game shooting 18 percent from the field and were 0-for-6 before Jake Cochran scored the first bucket with 2:41 remaining in the first quarter.
Greenfield-Central fell behind 11-6 after the first quarter and 22-11 by halftime before Plainfield (18-4) built a 16-point lead in the third quarter.
“We had a bad start in the first half. We only scored 11 points in the first half, so probably the lowest all year. In the third quarter, we showed some life, but it was too late,” Brady Mundell said.
The Mundell brothers did all they could to cut into the deficit. Brady Mundell, who posted a game-high 15 points, grabbed five rebounds and scored 12 of his points in the second half.
Caleb finished with eight points, all in the second half. Brady sliced the Quaker’s lead 40-31 with a pair of buckets to end the third quarter.
Antic added two points, Cochran had four and three assists, while freshman Dylan Moles finished with nine points.
“Coach preaches to compete, have juice, and a lot of our guys to. Tyler Antic, Jake and Brock, those dudes dive for boards, and Caleb, he’s ferocious on defense,” Brady Mundell said. “The younger guys, hopefully, they learn from us. We’re always in the gym, so be a gym rat.”
Moles looks to be filling that role for the future, but in the immediate, Greenfield-Central will see Richmond at the Muncie Central Sectional on Wednesday of next week after ending the regular-season with Delta.
Richmond is favored to make a run at the sectional title.
“We have to bring it, but we’re excited about the opportunity,” Meredith said. “But we have to play better. We hadn’t won a conference game in three years. We hadn’t done some of these things, but our seniors helped us to those things.”
