Sectional 29 girls basketball preview Rushville vs Greensburg

The Coaches

Rushville- Melissa Marlow is one the winningest coaches in the state with a record of 336-221 in her 23 years leading the Lady Lions, just 17 wins from cracking the top 50 of all time. She has won 12 sectionals including the last two, last year over Greensburg and the season before over Lawrenceburg. She also holds three regional championships, and a semi state championship in 2010.

Greensburg- Jason Simpson holds a 159-59 record and his own semi state championship in 2018. He holds a .729 winning percentage good for 16th among active coaches with at least five years’ experience.

The two coaches are even in their head-to-head matchups. Both hold 8 wins each in the 16 matchups the two have faced off in.

The Players

Rushville has two talented seniors with plenty of experience. Belle Gossett and Briley Munchel are both multiyear starters and the combo is one of the best in the EIAC on defense. Munchel is averaging 13.1 ppg and 2.6 steals per game, her 62 swipes this season are good for third in the EIAC. Gossett’s 45 steals place her in the top 10 also. Gossett is the most accurate three-point shooter in the EIAC hitting 39% (29 of 74) of her shots from outside the arc, she is averaging 10.6 ppg and 6.9 rpg to go with her 1.9 steals per game. The Lady Lions also have a post player that can play in the paint and shoot from outside in Leonie Boyer who averages 12.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg.

Greensburg is led by their talented post player Leah West who averages 19.3 ppg (2^nd in the EIAC) 8.1 rpg (4^th in the EIAC) and 1.3 steals per game. The Lady Bucs also have a talented group of freshmen led by Aly Powers (13.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Mary Harmon (8.3ppg, 3.4 apg) who have stepped up this season.

The last outing for Rushville resulted in a 59-35 loss to Columbus North and Greensburg defeated Lawrenceburg by 24-points last Thursday. The teams met on Dec 10; Greensburg won the contest 48-47.