By the end of the first half Ranger guard Eric White alone had outscored Ashland, 16-15, his eventual game-high 23 points pacing the Rangers to a 73-31 win Monday night, meaning GHS had only to defeat a similarly overmatched Haviland team as The Signal went to press Tuesday night to claim the SPIAA regular season title.
   With his team leading 35-15 at the break at Ashland, Coach Dave White barely kept his boys in the locker room two minutes, saying later, “There wasn’t a lot to talk about.  I mean, things were pretty much going our way.”
  Eric White, in fact, scored 15 of his first half 16 in the first quarter alone, hitting three of five attempts from beyond the arc in the opening period before the Jays went to a box-and-one junk defense to deny him open looks.  That move, however, simply meant other Rangers were open for the long-ball, with Logan Waters, Andrew Seiler and Tyler Stegman hitting four of seven trey attempts, leaving GHS with a gaudy 57.1 percentage (8-14) from three-point territory on the night.
   Having expressed concern Monday morning as to how his team would respond at Ashland after what he called a physical and mental beating at Macksville Saturday night, Coach White later said his squad’s romp Monday night was due to two factors, both of which revolved around junior forward Shane Engelken having received good news that afternoon from his orthopedic doctor in Dodge.
   “Shane (Engelken) came and told us right before the game that he’d been cleared to practice this week, and to play next week in Regionals if he’s pain free,” White said.  “It sort of jacked everybody up to hear that, like things were finally starting to go our way.  We played pretty hard after that, but then I think that had a lot to do with Shane’s news.”
   Engelken suffered what was first diagnosed as a high ankle sprain late in a come-from-behind win at Meade January 15, and was then later revealed to be a cracked bone in his lower left leg.  First told he’d be out six weeks, his return in two-thirds that time was as uplifting to him and his mates as it was unexpected.
   With a monstrous 59-23 lead after three, White emptied the bench in the fourth, but not before he’d inserted freshman post Garth Koehn as early as the second quarter.  Koehn finished with five points and several offensive boards, recovering from early jitters that showed in his first several attempts from the line.
   “Garth made some nice steals on the half-court trap and he made some nice passes,” White said.  “He also worked hard to get into position on the boards.  I’d been planning on playing him more on the varsity before last night, but he cut his index finger in shop last week.
   “You know, they’ll have him around next year, with Shane, Adam (Haskin) and Billy (Stensland) for big men, and Andrew (Seiler) and Thomas at guard, so even though I won’t be here, this thing won’t fall out of bed next season.  They’ll be all right,” White said in a reference to this being his last season at the Ranger helm.
   Asked if working Engelken back into the front line rotation after a month’s absence could prove disruptive after adjusting to the redhead’s unavailability, White acknowledged it could be a challenge, albeit one with a silver lining.
   “This week we won’t let him have any contact, but he can get back to shooting and conditioning,” White said.  “It’ll be nice to have him in postseason as another big man, especially if (Dave) Cesmat gets in foul trouble.  It’ll be nice to have his size in reserve, because there’s been some times we’ve missed it the last month.  But yeah, it’ll be another adjustment we’ll have to make, just like we did when we didn’t have him available.”
Fulton, girls fall short…
   Senior guard Kacey Fulton, meanwhile, had her second consecutive double double at Ashland, finishing with 19 points and 10 boards before fouling out late in a 65-63 loss to the Lady Jays.
  “She did a great job tonight, just like she did at Macksville,” Coach Marshall Ballard said during a timeout in the boys’ game.  “She’s really been coming on.”
   Also scoring in double figures were fellow seniors Megan Booth with 14 and Lindsey Heft with 13, who struggled from long-range in hitting just one of twelve attempts from beyond the arc.  Heft’s one trey, however, came at the second quarter buzzer, closing the gap at the break to 32-30.
   Ashland extended their lead to 44-38 after three, after GHS had tied the game at 36 all midway through the third.  Ashland, in fact, led by as many as nine with three minutes remaining, before a late charge by Jordan Eller (11 points) brought Ballard’s team back, Eller hitting both ends of a one-and-one with 14 ticks left to bring Greensburg to within three.
   A bucket by Ashland’s Kayla Young pushed the hosts’ lead to 65-60 before a conventional basket-and-one three-point play by Eller with three seconds to go brought the score to its final count.  Fulton fouled out with 1:36 left.
   Though GHS shot a modest 38.9 percent from the field overall, that percentage improves to 47.8 percent after eliminating the 1-13 three-point shooting for the game.
   Both GHS teams play host to ranked South Gray squads at Mullinville Friday in the conclusion of the regular season, after going to Haviland Tuesday evening.