Bullman helps Grayslake Central get by Wauconda

She fancies herself a guard. But at 6-foot-2, Kate Bullman of Grayslake Central is clearly the tallest player on her team. Yes, she's a center who plays other positions.

Wauconda also has a tall player who operates as a forward. Both Bullman and Wauconda's Allie Tylka suffered through foul trouble on Friday night at Central.

Central stormed to a quick 14-6 lead in the opening quarter of the Northern Lake County Conference battle. And then the Bulldogs stormed back. Central's lead hit double digits in the fourth quarter and on a Tylka drive it was down to a single basket at 44-42.

And then the Grayslake Central center/forward/guard Bullman saved the day. She grabbed the basketball and completed a full court drive to the basket. Central (7-4, 4-0) held serve and posted a 49-44 home win.

"I barely played tonight,'' Bullman admitted. "I got a perfect pass on that drive to the basket."

Bullman (8 points, 5 rebounds) and teammate MK Drevline (13 points) combined to score the Rams' first 10 points and Central was off and running.

"They are good,'' admitted Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis. "We had 28 turnovers to their 18. And you can't do that against a good team. Plus, we were off in that first half."

With Tylka sidelined with fouls, the Bulldogs (5-2, 2-2) got back in the game in the second quarter. Teammates Madison Carver and Makenzie Arden (15 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Rams' lead was down to 17-16.

Rosie Drevline (13 points) answered back with a 3-pointer and Central was up 24-19 at halftime.

"I think we have a better conference this year,'' Drevline said. "There should be a lot of good games this year. We just need to work on our consistency. Our defense was working well tonight."

Wauconda had a strong effort from center Kiley Szmajda. She fired in a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter comeback and finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds.

"It did take a special effort in that fourth quarter,'' Dennis added. "And that helped make it a game."

"What a tremendous play by Kate,'' Rams coach Steve Ikenn noted. "I thought we played good defense on Tylka tonight."

The Wauconda forward added 10 second half points.

The Rams had a strong third quarter aided by Amanda Kocialkowski (9 points) and Madeline Mussay (6 points)

"Madeline is a feisty defender,'' said Ikenn. "That kid manages to get 4 rebounds a game."

Mussay had all of her 6 points in the final minutes of the third quarter.