Piggott quickly making an impact for Lake Zurich
That speed, it runs in her family. And Lake Zurich sophomore Maddy Piggott can get up the basketball court quickly.
Let's go back a couple decades to her dad's career at Stevenson. Chris Piggott was quite the baseball player. Though it was back in the early 90s when he set school records for stolen bases in a season (49) and a career (82), those marks still hold today.
"My grandparents told me he played just about every sport in high school,'' Maddy Piggott said.
The sophomore Piggott might be a soccer player, first and foremost. But she seems to have found a liking to this indoor sport as well.
"She's an incredible athlete,'' said Lake Zurich girls basketball coach, Chris Bennett. "She is taking baby steps in basketball now."
And also some large strides, such as scoring all of her team's points in the second quarter on Tuesday night. Vernon Hills, playing without its talented inside presence Kayla Caudle, went through two seven-minute scoring droughts in the first half yet only trailed 15-7 at halftime.
But Piggott outscored the Cougars (4-3) in the third quarter and the Bears (6-5) rolled to a 35-13 victory in the 2016 Exam Jamm at Lake Zurich.
"Maddy is very athletic,'' said Lake Zurich junior McKenna Zobel. "She's definitely been a good addition to our team."
It didn't get much better in the scoring department for Vernon Hills in the second half. The Cougars had just 6 points over the final two quarters.
"We struggle to score anyway,'' said VH coach Paul Brettner. "Plus, Lake Zurich is a really good defensive team. We only scored 7 in the first half but we were only down by 8 points."
The Cougars (4-7) didn't look like they were in in trouble early. Becky Bahlman hit the game's first shot, a 3-pointer. It would be the lone trey of the night. On a 12-footer from Sarah Demas, VH trailed just 10-7 early in the second quarter.
The third quarter belonged strictly to the Bears. Another young, promising Lake Zurich player is freshman guard Ella Gilbertson. She stands nearly 6 feet.
Gilbertson opened the third quarter with an outside shot, and the Bears led by double digits (17-7). They went on a 16-0 run in the third quarter. In addition to Piggott outscoring the Cougars it was Gilbertson and another sophomore, Morgan Long.
"We knew Vernon Hills was better than this,'' Bennett said. "With them missing (Caudle), we were able to sit on their shooters. We play good defense here."
Zobel chipped in 5 points.
"McKenna is unstoppable,'' Piggott said. "She's such a good role model and someone to look up to."
Both coaches cleared the benches in the fourth quarter. Claire Jones (5 rebounds) scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter, and that came with three minutes left on the game clock.
Piggott led all scorers with 9 points. Gilbertson added 6 points and Grace Kinsey chipped in 5.
Demas was the high scorer for Vernon Hills. She finished with 4 points.