Plainfield North shuts down Richards

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:42AM

Lucky for Plainfield North, style points are not awarded for basketball games. The Tigers' 49-41 victory over Richards on Tuesday night was no thing of beauty.

"In the second half, we played more our style of basketball," North coach Nick DiForti said. "In the first half, we played theirs."

That helped account for the 19-all halftime deadlock. Richards coach John Chapetto, displeased with his offense, thought his team had a chance. Instead, the Bulldogs were outclassed by the 13-5 Tigers.

"I think it's the worst offensive effort we've had, maybe, in my entire high school coaching career," Chapetto said of his team's 26.9 percent shooting. "Against their transition, against their zone, every way, we took selfish shots. I don't know if we took one good shot the entire game. And defensively, we played well. For us, holding someone to 49 points should be a win."

What Richards couldn't do in the second half was stop swingman Jack Krieger, who scored nine of his team-high 11 points after the break, including a three-pointer to highlight the 16-2 run that broke the game open. With Kyle Palendech scoring all seven of his points in the second half, not even Dominique Gaddis' 16-point showing was enough for Richards (6-10).

"The second half, we settled down," DiForti said. "When they became more aggressive defensively, we were smart enough to back cut. We didn't take quick shots. The things coaches hate, we didn't do."

"We tripped ourselves," said Chapetto, who saw Quintin Harvey ejected thanks to a third-quarter shoving match. "I don't know if our players have fully given themselves over to our coaching staff. And on January 18? I don't know – I told them to be at practice (today)."

The Tigers, who made 11 of 18 shots in the second half, jump back into Southwest Prairie play at Plainfield Central on Friday, the first of four straight in opposing gyms.

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