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Knights have girls program headed in right direction

Greenon coach shares the credit for his 100th career win Saturday.

Greenon's Lianne Masquelier (right) is guarded by Shawnee's Morgan Spitzer during a Dec. 15 game at Shawnee. Masquelier is averaging 5.9 assists per game for the 8-2 Knights. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

Barbara Perenic Greenon's Lianne Masquelier (right) is guarded by Shawnee's Morgan Spitzer during a Dec. 15 game at Shawnee. Masquelier is averaging 5.9 assists per game for the 8-2 Knights. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:16 PM Tuesday, January 10, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Greenon High School girls basketball coach Gary Falkenbach earned his 100th career victory on Saturday with a 49-44 win at Benjamin Logan.

Without his players and assistant coaches, Falkenbach said, it wouldn’t have been possible.

“I’m proud of the players I’ve had and what we’ve accomplished sticking together,” Falkenbach said.

Falkenbach, who was an assistant at Catholic Central in 1994 when the Irish won the Division IV state championship, coached Central’s girls team for five years before taking over the Knights program in 2007.

He’s got a career record of 100-104.

“Every year we’ve been competitive, and that’s been my goal,” Falkenbach said. “That’s what I like about this year’s group — they’re not afraid to play anybody.”

With an influx of talented players at Greenon, Falkenbach is hoping there are more wins than losses in the future. The varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams each have winning records.

And now there is a youth program for girls in the in fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

“We’ve got kids playing together, and we’ve got numbers,” Falkenbach said. “It’s a privilege to be a part of our program, and our players have laid the foundation for that.”

The Knights are 8-2, 4-1 in the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division, this season and are riding a three-game winning streak.

Greenon has received strong play from senior guard Whitney Robinson (11.9 points, 4.0 steals per game), junior Heather Slaughter (9.2 rebounds, 2.0 blocks) and sophomore Lianne Masquelier (5.9 assists). Falkenbach said depth has been the key.

“We’ve got five or six players really contributing,” Falkenbach said.

They’re also in the middle of a seven-game road trip that won’t end until Jan. 25 at Tecumseh. Falkenbach said the road trip will only help down the stretch.

“We’re treating it like the tournament,” Falkenbach said. “We prepare at home, and then go play on the road. It’s great preparation for us in January and February.”

They’ll return home for five straight games to end the season, including a key CBC Mad River Division game against Urbana on Jan. 28 and tough games against Kenton Ridge and Tippecanoe.

“It’s a good warm-up (for tournament),” Falkenbach said.

With what they’ve built at Greenon, Falkenbach, 46, hopes to add a few more wins to his resume.

“I’m not going anywhere, especially with as hard as we’ve worked to get to this point,” Falkenbach said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0365, Michael.Cooper@coxinc.com or on Twitter @SNS_Wizard.

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