Grayslake Central holds off Deerfield

The Grayslake Central girls basketball team simulates playing with a lead during practice every day.

It showed Saturday, as the Rams held off a gutsy Deerfield team 38-31 in the opening round of Warren's Blue Devil Classic in Gurnee.

"They were as scrappy, as we thought they would be," Grayslake Central forward Kate Bullman said of the Warriors. "I think our experience in playing with a lead definitely helped us today."

Deerfield (4-10) came out blazing and had a 16-9 lead after the opening quarter. The Warriors were up 23-14 lead after a bucket by Mallory Sawyer (4 points) with 2:10 left in the half. But Grayslake Central (11-4) inched its way back and closed the half with a 7-0 spree to cut its deficit to 23-21. Guard Rosie Drevline chipped in 4 points during the run.

"Our defense buckled down after that first quarter," Rams coach Steve Ikenn said. "Give Deerfield credit. They played hard and made some big shots."

Bullman's basket gave the Rams the lead for good at 29-27 by the end of the third quarter.

"Kate's obviously a great player, but we had several girls step it up today," Ikenn said.

Ikenn was quick to mention senior guard Maura Fitzgerald for her ability to bring the ball up the floor and junior guard Amanda Kocialkowski, who played excellent defense and crashed the boards (5 rebounds).

Grayslake Central held its ground in the fourth, forcing 7 turnovers, one after Bullman chased down a loose ball.

Bullman scored 4 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth. She also grabbed 7 boards and blocked 4 shots.

"We practice playing with leads," Bullman said. "We finally got our rhythm back after the first period and didn't panic at the end."

Ahead 35-31 with 59 seconds left, the Warriors were forced to foul late. Grayslake Central converted 3 of 4 free throws to keep it a multiple-possession game. Bullman also wrested the ball away from a Deerfield player with 20 seconds left to help secure the Rams' sixth win in a row.

"Practice paid off," Bullman said. "Once we were up, we didn't let up. (Deerfield) kept pushing, though, because we had the lead a few times and let it slip."

Forward Alexis Colman popped in 10 points to lead Deerfield.