“No Cesmat, no Waters tonight,” Greensburg Coach Dave White commented to a spectator of Friday night’s girls’ game against South Gray near the east end of Mullinville’s gym.  Add 6-2 junior forward Shane Engelken still days away from seeing action on the court in recovering from a cracked bone and it was no surprise the Rangers fell to the top-ranked Rebels 77-52.
   Though starting guard Waters was home in bed with the flu, Cesmat was feeling good enough to join Engelken on the end of the bench in street clothes.
   With the prospect of again facing Gray in the Sub State round, as happened a year ago in Dodge, White knows his team will likely be at full strength by that time.  He also figures on approaching the Rebels a little differently on defense if there is a next time.
  “I didn’t think we’d match up well enough to play them man, but if I had it to do over again tonight I’d start out that way,” White said.
   Numbers from the book seem to support White’s notion, such as the Rebels outscoring the Rangers by 16 in the first quarter when Greensburg played zone.  The advantage, however, was only nine points the last 24 minutes after White switched his squad to a tight man defense at the start of the second quarter.  Gray, in fact, only outscored Greensburg by a single point in both the second and fourth quarters.
   With the 6-4 Cesmat on the bench and unable to counteract Gray’s 6-5 senior post, Eli Applegate, the Rebels controlled the boards, out-rebounding Greensburg by 43-17.  Even with Greensburg’s more effective man defense in place the last three quarters of the game, Gray was still able to consistently hit open look jumpers, making 35 of 57 shots for 62 percent.
   Nearly lost in the calculations of match ups and available players was a stellar offensive performance by senior forward-turned-center Lane Allison, who slithered and slashed his way for a game-high 23 points.
   “Lane really stepped up here tonight and did a nice job finishing shots when he was able to get to the basket a little ahead of his man,” White said.  “He can do that against a bigger lineup like this if he can just get his body a little ahead of the other guy.”
   The loss left Greensburg with a 16-4 record heading into Regional action Thursday night at Coldwater where White’s team will face the winner of Tuesday’s tilt between Minneola and Fowler.  While winning that game alone will put them in the Sub State round, White hopes to finish this week on a strong note, meaning he’d like to win his Regional finals where he’ll likely face either South Central or Bucklin.
   The Rangers beat Bucklin in a tight game at Mullinville January 18, then lost another tight contest to the Aces the next week in the league tourney at Dodge.  GHS beat Central on their court in overtime February 4.  Losing the Regional final to South Barber a year ago in Ashland landed the Rangers in Gray’s Sub State in Dodge where White’s squad fell to the eventual state champs in the finals.
Lady Rebels run wild…
   Despite scoring the game’s first seven points en route to a quick 9-2 lead, the Lady Rangers’ fast start merely served to motive their visitors from Montezuma, South Gray going on a 15-0 run after a timeout tongue lashing by Coach Tasha Trundle.  Gray, in fact, finished the first half with a 47-11 edge, eventually handing GHS a 76-40 loss.
   Kayla Thomas led five South Gray players in double figures with a game-high 20 points, Gretchen Blattner adding 13.  Senior post Megan Booth used her size to good advantage on the block, bagging 16 for Greensburg in a losing cause.   Lindsey Heft tallied 12 for Greensburg, largely on the strength of hitting three of nine attempts from beyond the arc.
   The loss leaves the girls 12-8 on the season heading into a first round Regional game Tuesday night against Fowler at Mullinville as The Signal went to press.