Bainbridge-Guilford girls' basketball coach Bob Conway recalled a game five years ago when senior Morgan Bullis was playing a seventh-grade modified game.
Bullis was raw, athletic, and couldn't shoot a lick. "I think she shot 2-for-17 in that game, and I thought to myself, 'this kid will never score,'" Conway said. "But she got every rebound."
Fast forward, and times have changed for Bullis. "She has developed into a true scorer when she needs to be," Conway said. "She averages a double-double for us because she is so quick and has great timing (with rebounding)."
Bullis is already a two-time Evening Sun basketball all-star, but she hasn't come close to winning our scoring title. She isn't among our top five scorers this season, and through Tuesday of this week, didn’t even lead her own team in scoring (she shares that distinction with freshman Megan Palmatier).
In terms of overall value, however, there is no more important player for the Bobcats, now in the midst of a 13-game winning streak and among the top four or five Class C schools in all of Section IV.
Bullis is our Matthews Ford and Planet Preowned Athlete of the Week, an honor that is a reflection of her all-around game and consistent performances that do not always show up in the box score.
In today’s age of athletics where athletes are often more flash than substance; scoring presides over passing; and the thinking is often “me” instead of “we,” Bullis is a true throwback whose only concern is the final score.
“The bottom line with Morgan is winning,” Conway said. “She could average 18 or 19 points a game if she wanted to (she currently averages 11.7 per game), but that’s not important to her.”
Clearly scoring wasn’t important to Bullis earlier this week when she had a season-low four points against Unadilla Valley. She had several one-on-one opportunities to drive to the basket, but instead gave the ball up to teammates – Palmatier in particular – for easy layups. She had eight assists and eight rebounds to lead her team to a comfortable win.
If those numbers don’t impress you, she has the gaudy statistics on her resume this season, too. In the game previous to the win over UV, Bullis had 15 points, 16 rebounds, and five steals in an 18-point victory over Sidney.
While not a “look at me” player, Bullis is certainly on other team’s scouting reports, and is a nightmare matchup because of her quickness and athleticism, Conway said. “She’s too quick in the low post for a big girl, and if (the other team) puts a guard on her, she has too much size and jumps so well.”
Now six years into her basketball evolution, one in which she was nearly a non-entity on the offensive end, Bullis is a leader on the Bobcats in every conceivable way. She is a leader in the huddle, a leader on the floor, and is willing to do anything on the basketball court to help her team win a game be it a pass, a rebound, a dive on the floor or, of course, a key bucket.
“The biggest thing with Morgan is her competitive spirit,” Conway said. “When she walks on to the field of competition, she is there to compete – and she drags everyone along with her.”
And the Bobcats are following their leader to perhaps another Midstate Athletic Conference championship.