Lincoln-Way East’s George Bellevue remains most hospitable when it comes to rebounds. ‘He takes pride in it.’

Lincoln-Way East’s George Bellevue is enjoying the silence.

The way the 6-foot-6 senior forward sees things, it’s what he doesn’t hear from the stands about his rebounding effort that tells him all he really needs to know.

“Ever since I got into high school, I would hear people in the stands yell and say ‘crash,’” Bellevue said. “I know I’m doing a good job when I’m not hearing them say that anymore.”

Since sophomore year, Bellevue has rebounded early and often for the Griffins.

In Tuesday night’s 66-50 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over visiting Sandburg, Bellevue was on the perimeter a little more than usual, helping out the guards on defense.

Still, Bellevue hauled in seven rebounds for Lincoln-Way East (21-3, 4-1). His last board was the 421st of his career, tying him with Dorian Aluyi for the most in program history.

Bellevue also has 178 rebounds this season, closing him in on Sam Shafer’s program standard of 189 set in the 2017-18 season. Aluyi played from 2014 to 2017.

Bellevue doesn’t have any secrets to his rebounding success.

“Just go get it,” he said. “That’s it.”

That’s it?

“There’s nothing more to it than that,” Bellevue said. “The coaches tell me to rebound, so I rebound. I’ve been doing that since my sophomore year.”

Freshman BJ Powell led Lincoln-Way East with 22 points and Bellevue had 15. Kaiden Ross returned from an injury and came off the bench to score 14 points to go with four steals.

David Vargas led Sandburg (10-17, 0-5) with 17 points. Walter Davis added 13.

Bellevue said he watched the Dennis Rodman scenes in the “The Last Dance” documentary about the Chicago Bulls. He admired how Rodman studied shots and angles, but that’s not his style.

“I just jump,” Bellevue said. “My first varsity practice, coach (Rich) Kolimas realized I could jump and he wanted me to rebound.”

“He is a rebounding machine,” Kolimas said. “Boy, are we going to miss him because we rely on him so much. He wants to clean up on the glass, and he takes pride in it. It’s just a joy to see him go with two hands and be strong.”

Lincoln-Way East will need a strong showing Friday night against Bolingbrook (20-6, 5-0). The Griffins hope to avenge a 71-61 loss on Jan. 17 to the Raiders.

With a revolving door of injuries, it should be interesting to see what the lineup will look like.

Ross, a senior guard, missed two games and came back big, bagging four 3-pointers Tuesday. He confirmed he has his confidence back.

“I was overthinking the game too much,” Ross said.

Senior guard Tylon Toliver is nursing a wrist injury. Kolimas said it would be “wishful thinking” to have him back Friday.

Senior forward Kyle Olagbegi has been battling ankle problems since Christmas. After missing two games and returning for two, he dressed but didn’t play Tuesday because he rolled an ankle Monday in practice.

“It’s crazy,” Ross said. “With this group of seniors, we haven’t played together since around December.”

Ross and Bellevue both said they are young seniors who turned 17 late last year. Ross is planning on attending a prep school for a season before heading to a college.

Bellevue, meanwhile, is receiving looks from smaller colleges. He’s leaving the door open for a prep school as well.

As they play their final high school games together, Ross pointed out he has had a lot of fun being teammates with Bellevue.

“It’s easy when you throw the ball up and you know he’s going to get it,” Ross said. “We didn’t know he tied the record. He just goes out every night and does it.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.