Analysis: Krieger Puts Tigers in Regional Mix

When Plainfield North senior Jack Krieger went down with a broken thumb during a loss to Plainfield Central Jan. 21, perhaps no injury in the Chicago area had more of an effect on its team.

Krieger and the Tigers were one of the surprise stories of the first half of the season, opening with an 11-2 record and reaching the semifinals of the prestigious Pontiac tournament in December.

But when Krieger went down, the Tigers went into a tailspin. Including the game he left, Plainfield North dropped nine straight before gaining revenge on Plainfield Central last week.

But in Thursday’s regular-season finale, a 48-47 Southwest Prairie Conference win over Minooka, Krieger was back, just in time for the postseason.

Krieger wasted little time getting back into the swing of things, driving for a layup on the Tigers’ first possession. He wound up with 10 points overall, though he did miss all four of his three-point attempts.

“I had a big smile on my face,” Plainfield North coach Nick DiForti said of Krieger’s early bucket. “It’s been a long time since we saw that. Some kids were saying that it was weird hearing his name during the starting lineups. He didn’t have the game he wanted, but when you have Jack Krieger on the floor, you have to recognize that.”

The injury was to the thumb on his shooting hand, so he hasn’t had much of a chance to shoot since the injury, even icing it down during postgame press interviews Thursday. But he said he felt good overall.

“I just have to get my legs back under me and get used to gripping the ball with my thumb,” Krieger said. “I just couldn’t find my jump shot.”

Due to being in the midst of a losing streak with their best player injured, the Tigers went from the talk of the Western suburbs to the No. 13 seed in the loaded Class 4A East Aurora Sectional. That puts them in a quarterfinal game at Bolingbrook Monday against Downers Grove North.

But DiForti is hoping that by getting Krieger some game action, followed by a couple of days of practice, the Tigers can win Monday and then give Connecticut-bound guard Ryan Boatright and East Aurora a challenge on Tuesday in the regional semifinals.

“With him back in practice, it just gives a whole new look to our team,” DiForti said. “We’re a totally different team with him on the floor. Hopefully, all that rust got out of him today and we’ll see what happens. Big-time players make big-time plays. Let’s just hope he does that come next week.”

Krieger relishes the chance.

“We got seeded kind of low, but we’re not going to look at that,” he said. “In the state playoffs, everybody is 0-0. We just have to play our game and go out and win.”

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