Greg Canales’ influence in determining how much season the Emporia High boys have left is difficult to understate.
The 6-foot-6 junior is the only regular taller than 6-4 on the vertically challenged Spartans. He’s the only guy with the size and ability to give Emporia consistent rebounding underneath. He’s the only player who can deliver the inside presence EHS needs to give its offense the proper balance and flow.
“Because when I’m making shots,” he said, “that opens Taylor (Euler) up. And if they’re double-teaming me, somebody’s open on the perimeter or across the lane or something like that.”
With the arrival of substate action, Thursday night’s game at Newton (13-7) brings win-or-go-home time for the Spartans. Canales has been at or near the top of his game in recent weeks — highlighted by the first double-double of his career in last week’s home win over Seaman — and the best chance for Emporia to advance to next week’s State tournament comes if he can continue to be a force.
Earlier in the season, things were different.
EHS coach Rick Bloomquist benched Canales after the Spartans’ 76-64 loss at Seaman on Jan. 13, a game in which Canales scored 12 points but had zero rebounds. Bloomquist was initially in disbelief that a 6-foot-6 post player could go an entire game without grabbing a single rebound, but he said that same night, he went back and watched the game tape. The stat sheet hadn’t lied.
The benching was brief, but Canales also struggled a bit in the Ralph Miller Classic in Chanute. He played well when the Spartans lost at Hayden, then was superb in an overtime win at Shawnee Heights on Feb. 6, just missing a double-double with 16 points and nine boards. Since then, he’s looked, for the most part, like a difference-maker, and Bloomquist has increasingly stressed getting him the ball inside — something the Spartans have done extremely well as they’ve played their best basketball over the last two weeks.
What’s been the difference for Canales? He makes it sound as if he just turned a switch on that he knew needed to be activated.
“I just stepped up a little bit,” he said. “I realized we really needed the post presence. We had to stop relying on the perimeter game, and I just kinda started taking it to the basket and getting fouled, and just controlling the flow of the game, kind of.”
Bloomquist has worked hard to keep Canales motivated, too.
“He always challenges me by saying, ‘You’ve done it this many games, but the true sign of greatness is true consistency,’” Canales said. “So I try to be as consistent as I can.”
When Seaman made its trip to EHS for senior night last week, Canales was at his best. He knew full well that this was the team he’d had no rebounds against, and he wanted to show the Vikings he was better than how he’d played a month earlier. The 24-point, 12-rebound effort helped key the Spartans to a 73-60 win.
“I kinda had a chip on my shoulder, because they really handled me last time,” Canales said. “I didn’t really make ’em respect me at all, and I thought that time, I gained a little respect.”
Canales has enough shooting touch to put it up from 17 to 18 feet, and even bury the occasional 3-pointer. And his post skills — his turnaround, spins and post-up ability in the lane — have made him look like a guy who could both key a run to State this year and enter next season as one of the Centennial League’s top returners.
“The offseason — I didn’t play football this year,” he said. “So I’d lift weights, and I’d come in late at night, really just for an hour or two, and just work on my entire game. And especially this summer, I worked on a lot of my moves, my post moves.”
“Greg Canales is playing with so much moxie inside, it’s just oozing out of him,” Bloomquist said after last week’s win over Seaman. “... And he gives you a great inside presence. Now, what we’re starting to do, instead of hunting for shots on the outside, we’re hunting for Greg. And then shots on the outside open up, but it’s two-fold — Greg’s finishing, and we’re finding (him).
“We’re not struggling to find him, we’re not force-feeding him. We’re doing it because we believe in him.”
Emporia’s 11-9 record is the same one that it entered substate with last year, when the Spartans finished fourth at the State tournament. If the Spartans beat Newton, they’ll take on the winner of Thursday night’s game between Hutchinson (9-11) and Great Bend (14-6) on Saturday at Salina Central.
“I think, going into every year, we expect to get to State,” Canales said. “No matter what our team looks like, we feel confident enough that we should be able to win our substate and get in the State tournament, at the least.”