Maggett, North Chicago eliminate Vernon Hills

By her play on the court, you might never guess that North Chicago's Ladellia Maggett has little support from her knees.

As in two ACL tears.

Yet there she goes in this her junior year for the Warhawks. Tuesday night in a Class 3A Antioch sectional semifinal, Maggett and her team watched a taller Vernon Hills team soar to a nine-point third-quarter lead. And then the Warhawks turned up the pressure.

For the third time this season, North Chicago pinned a loss on the Cougars. No. 2 North Chicago (24-8) advances to Thursday's sectional final against top-seeded Antioch after a 55-46 win.

"We stepped up our defense," Maggett said. "We stopped playing as one. We knew defense would win this game."

Maggett scored 6 of her team's first 8 points, as the Warhawks surged to an 8-2 lead. No. 3 Vernon Hills (22-8) answered back via the 3 pointer. Both Mia Polisky and Becky Bahlmann (three 3 pointers) helped Vernon Hills take the lead all the way to halftime.

"In the first half, they didn't pressure us," Cougars coach Paul Brettner said. "North Chicago has such great guards. We talked about how they would amp up the pressure."

On a steal and layup from Haley Lieberman the Cougars' lead was 33-24. Even after the Warhawks rallied to tie the score late in the third quarter, the Cougars again opened a 45-40 lead in the fourth.

North Chicago finished the game on a 14-1 run. Maggett led all scorers with 17 points.

Kasey Firnbach led Vernon Hills with 10 points, while Bahlmann finished with nine. Brettner couldn't have been prouder of his group.

"This team was special," he said. "We lost two Division 1 players (Sydney Smith and Lauren Webb) and got back to the sectional."