Grayslake Central rallies to reach title game at St. Viator
Illinois State basketball recruit Kate Bullman took on a different role for Grayslake Central on Saturday night.
After picking up a couple of fouls in the opening minutes against Zion-Benton at St. Viator, Bullman took a seat on the bench and played cheerleader for her teammates the rest of the first half.
She came out motivated after halftime, scoring 15 of her 17 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Her effort provided a big lift for Grayslake Central, which was down seven at the half but came back to win 46-37 in the final round of pool play in the Blenner Classic in Arlington Heights.
The Rams (12-3, 3-0 tourney) will next take on host St. Viator (4-6, 3-0) at 7 p.m. Monday for the championship. The Lions defeated Wheeling 53-34 in the other game.
Bullman has experienced early foul trouble before in her four-year varsity career and has learned to maintain her focus even while on the bench.
"I think everyone else did a great job stepping up and keeping the game close in the first half," Bullman said. "My teammates really don't like sitting next to me because I get frustrated. It's really frustrating when you can't help your team out, except by cheering."
The Rams were down 26-19 at the break and clawed their way back, pulling within 32-28 with under a minute left in the third. Bullman hit back-to-back shots to tie the score at 32-32 by the end of the quarter.
Grayslake Central added 14 more unanswered points. Bullman produced 9, as the Rams took a commanding 46-32 lead into the final minute of play.
"I knew going into the second half that we weren't playing our game in the first half," Bullman said. "We needed to push our tempo and make (Zion-Benton) frustrated because in the first half they were doing that to us."
Amanda Kocialkowski contributed 13 of her team-high 18 points in the second half for the Rams.
"Defensively, we were doing pretty good without (Bullman)," Rams coach Steve Ikenn said. "Then (Zion-Benton) got on a little run against us before the half. But having Kate on the floor helps us on both sides of the court. (Zion-Benton's Morgan Callahan) is a great player and Kate was able to shut her down in the second half. I thought our kids that came off the bench did a great job keeping us in the game."
Callahan, a North Carolina Central A & T recruit, finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. She scored 17 points in the first half in helping the Zee-Bees build a 26-19 lead.
"We just haven't developed our bench," said Zion-Benton coach Tanya Johnson, whose team dropped to 10-5. "When we get into foul trouble, that's huge for us. The encouraging thing was that we did play a good first half."
Ranya Jamison added 10 points and 4 steals for the Zee-Bees.