The Mooresville High School boys basketball team faces a tough 9-6 Plainfield High School on Friday, January 24, 2025. With Mooresville’s 2025 record so far being 8-7 (8 wins, 7 losses), they are the underdogs facing Plainfield on their home court. The Mooresville vs Plainfield game is always electric with student sections for both schools filling up to the brim. Being less than 10 minutes away from each other, students and parents are very likely to attend the match-up every year. The parents and Curry Crazies this season have been loud and brought the energy to lots of games.
“Every game we can attend, we try to bring the energy in many different methods such as heckling players when they come over by us, joke to the referee, and celebrate crazily on scored baskets,” junior Finley Zollman stated.
Last year, Head Coach Gavin Groninger was an assistant coach for the Quakers. They had a successful season under Coach Groninger going 15-8 on the season. Coming to Mooresville over the off-season, Groninger had made a huge impact on the Pioneers morale and record. Last year, Coach Shabaz Khaliq, led the pioneers to a 10-17 record with an unfortunate first round sectional exit to a tough Center Grove team.
“I’m familiar with their coaching style and plays that they like to run so that makes scouting so much easier, but I feel like he is going to throw in some wrinkles that we may not expect so we have to be ready for that,” Groninger said.
Many returning players like the odds of this week match-up against the Quakers. This season, AJ DeFur, a four year Varsity starter, feels hopeful about this week’s match-up along with the rest of the team. DeFur is a key player on both offense and defense for the Pioneers. DeFur is a shooting guard averaging 15 points, 1 assist, and 4 rebounds per game.
“I feel great. I want to beat them really bad. Our Coach was a Coach there so I feel like it’s going to be crazy tomorrow night. A rivalry game almost. We are just gonna pressure their best player, push their zone a little bit, and make them think a lot,” DeFur said.
