Miller, Grayslake Central find winning identity

Multiple Maddy Millers might be maddening.

Their moms even have the same first name, no less.

The good thing for Steve Ikenn, who’s always had a Maddy Miller on his squad in his first three seasons as head coach at Grayslake Central, is that he can always count on a Maddy Miller.

Take Saturday.

Maddy Miller scored 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, hustled for 6 rebounds and dished out 2 assists in Grayslake Central’s 47-29 win over Lake Forest in the opening game of Warren’s Blue Devil Classic.

The junior forward/guard shouldn’t be confused with the Maddy Miller who was a starting guard on the Rams’ sectional championship team two years ago.

There’s no relation between the two girls, but there is understandably confusion. The mother of current Ram Maddy Miller is Kari. The mother of former Ram Maddy Miller is Kerry. Maddy Miller (Class of 2011) graduated with Austin Miller, Maddy’s big brother and current Butler University starting shortstop.

The Miller families live just blocks away from each other, too.

Got it?

“Our families are fairly close,” said Maddy Miller, Class of 2014. “We get their mail all the time.

“All the time.”

As Maddy Miller was graduating high school, the other Maddy Miller was entering her sophomore year. The younger Maddy Miller played on varsity last winter, but her season was interrupted when she suffered a deep knee bruise, causing her to miss about seven weeks.

Saturday was her sixth double-digit scoring effort in 12 games for the 7-5 Rams. She shot 4 of 6 from the floor, including 2 of 2 from three-point range.

During one sequence, Miller got accidentally popped in the jaw under the basket, slightly dazing her. She remained on the court, though, and when play resumed, she tumbled to the floor to secure an offensive rebound.

“This is what we were expecting last year when we brought her up, and then she hurt her knee,” Ikenn said. “She never really got her rhythm going. This year, she’s playing well. She’s a nice player because she plays a post but she can play a guard, so it creates some nice mismatches. She can play inside or out.”

Morgan Dahlstrom posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for Grayslake Central, while Carson Sparkman had 11 points, 6 steals and 3 assists. Sparkman’s athleticism and quick hands led to several easy buckets in transition, particularly in the second quarter, when the Rams outscored the Scouts 15-5 to extend their lead to 25-9 by halftime.

Savannah Mudd added 8 points, 3 assists and 3 steals for Grayslake Central.

“We’ve been waiting for a game that we could come out and stay consistent the whole game and play our best, and we did,” Miller said. “I thought we played really well today.”

The Rams had not played since a loss to Hersey eight days ago. They turned the ball over 12 times in the first quarter but helped make up for it by helping force Lake Forest into 8 turnovers in the opening eight minutes.

“We did the things we needed to do,” Ikenn said. “I thought we looked a little rusty at times handling the ball, but defensively I thought we looked good. We forced some turnovers, and we capitalized on them. Which I thought was big because it’s one of things that we haven’t done early in the year.”

Gabby Perino had 10 points and 4 steals for Lake Forest. Annie Keller added 9 points and 5 rebounds for the Scouts.