Boys basketball: Plainfield Central starts strong, beats JCA

AURORA – Plainfield Central boys basketball coach Gregg Bayer could not have written a better script for Tuesday’s pool-play opener at the 52nd annual East Aurora Holiday Tournament.

The Wildcats got off to a 9-0 lead and never let Joliet Catholic Academy get within striking distance the rest of the way en route to a 61-43 victory.

Central (4-6) will face Chicago Wells at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Round 2 of pool play, while JCA (2-12) will meet Oswego East at 2:45. Oswego East beat Wells in its opener Tuesday.

Junior guard Maurice McCullum hit two 3-pointers and sophomore Tavari Johnson added a third as the Wildcats grabbed their 9-0 lead before the game was a minute and a half old. The Hilltoppers battled back to within 11-7 and 13-9, but a 6-0 run fueled by McCullum and Johnson stretched the difference to 19-9 late in the first quarter.

“We started off well, and it was not even the shooting part that was the big thing,” McCullum said. “Our defense was playing well. We didn’t want to give them any open 3s, and we even wanted their 2s to be tough shots.

“We knew they would switch defenses on us, but we shot the ball well against all their defenses. I was very happy with our shot selection. After we made the 3s early, we started getting to the basket real well.”

That they did. The Wildcats shot 52.9 percent on 27-of-51 shooting. They had 17 assists on their 27 baskets. They outrebounded the Hilltoppers, 32-21, including an 11-7 edge in offensive rebounds. If there was a flaw on the stat line, it was their 3-for-11 free-throw shooting.

“One of our goals is a better than 50 percent assists-to-field goals ratio,” Bayer said. “We did that, and we also got some offensive rebounds. When you can get easy baskets, your confidence grows. That helps in other aspects of the game.”

Both sides are loaded with young players, but it was a senior veteran who took over in the final three quarters.

Central forward Matthews Morganfield is 6 feet 3 inches tall. He is not tall for an inside force, but that’s what he can be thanks to his strength and athleticism.

On Tuesday, he finished hitting 10 of 12 shots for 20 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and some solid defense, especially against JCA’s biggest scoring threat, Gunter Nusbaumer, who led the Hilltoppers with 10 points.

“Nobody’s stopping him down low,” McCullum said of Morganfield, who will play college football. “A guy could be 6-9, 250, and he’s not stopping him.”

“Matthews gets a lot of what he gets on his own,” Bayer said. “He plays with a lot of physicality.”

McCullum followed Morganfield in the scoring column with 13 points, and Johnson and sophomore guard Brandon Shoemaker chipped in 11 points. Johnson matched Morganfield’s five assists and McCullum added four. Shoemaker grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

“At first, they punched us in the mouth,” said JCA coach Joe Gura, whose team trailed at halftime, 33-23. “The third quarter was big. They had two quick runs and knocked us out of it. We missed big free throws, missed makeable shots and gave up those offensive rebounds.”

Wildcats senior guard Terry Jackson contributed two early third-quarter baskets, Morganfield scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in the quarter, and McCullum scored five points in the final minute of the quarter, pushing Central’s lead to 55-35.

“We talked at halftime about how this was a game where the first three minutes of the third quarter would be critical, and we were able to extend the lead in that time,” Bayer said. “You know when you face a Joe Gura-coached team, they’ll be physical and well-coached. You have to execute and do your stuff right against them.”

“There were stretches where we came back and competed,” Gura said. “But coach [Bayer] does a great job with them, and we are who we are. We aren’t that tall, athletic or quick, so to succeed, we have to do all things right. We got some good looks. There were four times I thought we should have converted from inside and had a chance for a three-point play. We got one, one, zero and zero out of those four – we’re looking and 12 points and get two. We can’t afford that.

“But we’ll bounce back. I have no problem with this group. These kids try to do all that we ask. They just have to physically compete.”

Jake Bumstead chipped in nine points and five rebounds for JCA. Mike Payne had seven points, Christian Knapczyk six and Aidan Tyrell five.