Plainfield game postponed as hanging-dummy investigation continues

PLAINFIELD - Thursday’s scheduled high school girls basketball game between Plainfield and A.L. Johnson was postponed as both school districts continue to investigate an incident in which the Plainfield team found what appeared to be a black dummy hanging in the classroom they were assigned to use as a team room when the teams met in Clark.

The dummy was discovered before the Jan. 7 game at A.L. Johnson wearing a basketball uniform and mounted on a post with a string wrapped around its neck and one of its arms, hanging with a basketball attached to the other end of the string.

READ: Officials to investigate hanging dummy found in Plainfield team room

READ: Plainfield vows to get to the bottom of hanging-dummy incident

READ: Plainfield team not distracted on the court by hanging-dummy incident

Plainfield head coach Keshon Bennett said he requested the game be postponed since the investigation is ongoing and he wanted to protect his players from further escalation.

“I didn’t feel comfortable with it because the investigation is not complete,” he said. “I just don’t feel comfortable putting them in that position because it’s just been a lot for them, and without closure, they’re going into an unknown situation.

"The other thing is that with the investigation pending, I could see a million things going wrong with them (A.L. Johnson’s team) coming to Plainfield. If something happens, then the whole narrative changes.”

Bennett said he has not received any information about when the investigation is to be completed.

A Plainfield spokesperson said the school district had no comment because the investigation is ongoing.

Both teams play in the Union County Conference’s Mountain Division, and conference games are usually mandated to be made up when they’re postponed, except in case where the contest's outcome doesn’t impact the divisional championship. A.L. Johnson is currently in first place in the conference, and could need the pending game against Plainfield to decide the title.

Simeon Pincus can be reached atCNGirlsHoops@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN.