Bullman's big effort gives Grayslake Central a boost

When you grow up always being the tall kid in basketball, you might take some things for granted.

Like rebounding, which might be more like reaching when you're young … higher than anyone else can.

Grayslake Central freshman forward Kate Bullman, who stands 6-feet and has always been tall for her age, says she got a lot of rebounds in middle school and grade school basketball. But now, she's more of a work in progress on the boards.

"I've been working on my rebounding for a long time. Coming into the season, it wasn't my forte," Bullman said. "When you're younger, you don't really have to go in for rebounds when you're tall like me. You can kind of just reach for them.

"Then you get to high school and it's a big jump. Everyone is taller, stronger, bigger. You have to learn how to adapt to that and really work on your rebounding."

Bullman seemed to be pretty comfortable on the boards Monday night.

With a career-high 16 rebounds, to go along with 11 points, Bullman provided quite a spark off the bench in Grayslake Central's 62-48 nonconference victory over visiting Zion-Benton.

The Rams are now 20-7.

In the second quarter alone, Bullman rolled up 10 rebounds and 6 points. That helped the Rams turn a 1-point deficit at the beginning of the quarter (16-15) into an 11-point advantage (37-26) at halftime.

"Kate is a really good all-around player and she's still kind of growing into the game," Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn said of Bullman, who also had 5 assists and 4 blocks. "She's worked a lot on her rebounding. We actually work with everyone on that because it seems to be a dying art.

"But we've actually talked about rebounding with Kate and how a lot of times big kids growing up don't even learn the fundaments of rebounding because they can get away with not doing them when they're younger. So she's working hard to get a more solid base and not rely on just being tall."

Being tall made Bullman an attractive addition to the varsity. But it wasn't the only reason Ikenn wanted the rookie on his team.

"When I watched her play (in middle school), it was the way she played," Ikenn said. "She didn't seem to get too up, too down. She was even keel. She was (savvy) and level-headed. The way she carries herself, she's not intimidated and that's key."

Grayslake Central wasn't intimated by Zion-Benton's quickness and pressure. The Rams did turn the ball over 20 times, but they returned the favor and forced the Zee-Bees into 21 turnovers of their own.

Plus, the Rams shot the ball efficiently, connecting on 48 percent of their shots. They also got double-figures out of three other players besides Bullman. Jordyn Gosell led the way with 15 points, Lindsay Brust had 11 points and Amanda Larson had 10 points.

"We had too many turnovers, but when we showed patience, we handled (the press) great and got good looks," Ikenn said. "We just needed to slow it down."

Zion-Benton got a team-high 15 points out of Niquera Short. Marshelle Hampton added 12 points and Sariah Monk had 11 points.

"Our press was pretty good and has gotten a lot better since the start of the season," Short said. "But we just don't always have everyone showing up and playing consistently. And their post player (Bullman) was really good. That's what we need."

Zion-Benton falls to 10-13 on the season.

"Grayslake Central played a great game," Zion-Benton coach Tanya Johnson said. "They are really good shooters."