There are dominant starts and then there’s whatever Plainfield South had against Morris Wednesday night.

In a season that’s been less than ideal for both boys basketball programs, the Cougars gave their home fans one heck of a show with an unbelievable first half.

The Cougars had two players in double figures by halftime while Isaiah Robertson put up four blocks by himself on defense. The Cougars held Morris to just two shots from the field in the opening 16 minutes and they never let it get close in the second half in a 57-29 win for Plainfield South.

The Cougars (6-12) have had plenty of adjustments this year after graduating 10 seniors last season.

“Every player on this team is essentially a first-year varsity player,” coach Jeff Howard said. “This is a team that if they’re going to get good it would be right now. We’ve had (18) games and now is the time you want them to be good. In about three weeks everyone is going to be 0-0 again.”

Brayden Ablin had three triples before the first quarter concluded and finished the night with 15 points. Sophomore Ayden Foston was the other Cougar to hit double figures in the opening two periods and finished with 14. Robertson scored 12 points.

“The ball movement and transition was working really well for us,” Ablin said. “The way we came out felt great. The shots were falling so I just kept shooting it and letting it fly.”

It was the defense that stood out for Plainfield South. Morris didn’t score for the first 2:22 and didn’t make a shot from the field until 1:11 remained in the opening period when Cade Laudeman made a layup. The lead was 15-4 after one quarter.

“That was huge,” Ablin said of the defense. “We’ve been struggling defensively, but we picked it up (tonight). Our rotation has been working well, especially this game.”

That defense continued into the second period. Aside from an accidental tip-in by Plainfield South on their own side of the court, Morris didn’t have another basket from the field until 26 seconds remained in the first half when Caden Medler made a layup.

Morris made another basket seconds later, but Robertson, Ablin and Foston had all combined for 11 by that point.

“Last night we played Bolingbrook and we competed for about 12 minutes,” Howard said. “We knew if we could come out with some energy tonight then we could come out, contest and challenge everything. That led to some easy points at times.”

For Morris (5-13), the second half did see an increase in offensive output. After trailing 37-12 at the midway point, Morris put up its best scoring quarter in the third while the defense finally managed to slow Plainfield South down.

However, it wasn’t enough to give them an advantage in the period or the game as they were still down 51-20 entering the fourth. The clock ran in the final period as Plainfield South closed out the win.

“We’ve just got to burn the tape, burn the DVD and start over,” coach Joe Blumberg said. “Credit (Ablin) for hitting big shots. I think we were 0-for-15 from the field to start. We just got thumped on the road.”