By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

PLAINVILLE -- On the first day of practice, Plainville High School boys' basketball coach Chris Rorabaugh told his seniors they needed to step up and be more vocal than last season, a 19-2 year that ended with a sub-state loss to Salina-Sacred Heart. The seniors have led the Cardinals this winter, especially Andrew Casey, a four-year starter and arguably one of Kansas' top players.

"I definitely have become more of a vocal leader this year," Casey said. "Last year, I was a little bit shy and quiet, but this year, it's more of a vocal thing."

Casey's leadership has helped Plainville, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A, build a state championship-caliber resume. The Cardinals are 17-1 with their lone loss a 63-48 home defeat to Wichita-Word of Life, a squad that isn't affiliated with the Kansas State High School Activities Association and has several college prospects, and multiple players at 6-foot-8 or taller.

"He makes me a pretty good coach," Rorabaugh said of Casey.

The Feb. 9 defeat helped enhance the Cardinals' resume and showed Casey at his best. Plainville, down 18 in the third quarter, battled back and closed the gap to seven points in the fourth quarter. Casey had 21 points and led Plainville's comeback.

"I think they have got a good chance to go be a state champion if they keep fighting like that," Word of Life coach Ryan Hujing said. "They are not going to run up against size like we have very often. I think they have the makings of what it could take to go get a banner hung up in there."

Plainville has only won two state tournament games in program history, but the Cardinals are currently enjoying one of the best stretches in school annals. In the last three-plus seasons, Plainville boys' basketball is 68-15. Casey, a two-time first team all-Mid-Continent League player and a second team all-state selection last winter, has 1,120 career points.

"He is one of the best I have seen," Lance Ziegler, WaKeeney-Trego's fifth-year coach and a former Trego standout, said. "A lot of that came from he matured at kind of a young age. When he was a freshman, he was already pretty good-sized, pretty stout, pretty thick kid. He has had the opportunity to play four years of varsity, which really gives him a chance to really grow. Most kids get in high school only get that opportunity to play varsity for two, three years probably on average."

This season, Casey, a Dodge City Community College football signee, averages 15.8 points, seven rebounds, 4.6 steals and 4.4 assists per contest, all team-bests. He stands third in Kansas in steals per game, according to maxpreps.com.

"He is the leader for sure, and everything just goes through him," junior Nolan Weiser said. "He is a good leader and gets us through games."

Casey, assisted by a group that includes Weiser, senior guard Bryan Brungardt, senior forward Jameson Klein, senior point guard Kyle Becker and sophomore forward Hadley Gillum, has played at a slower pace this season. However, it's made Plainville a much stronger team than last year's unit that ranked No. 1 in Class 2A in points per contest.

Since the start of the year, Rorabaugh believed a more methodical tempo better suited the Cardinals' personnel. Plainville has averaged 65.04 possessions a contest, the slowest of Casey's four years - and much slower than last season's 74.59 possessions a contest.

However, the Cardinals are averaging 0.99 points per possession and allowing 0.64 points per possession, numbers that are more important than per game statistics.

It's the best offensive and defensive efficiencies of Plainville's last four seasons. Last season, Plainville had 0.92 points scored per possession and 0.67 points allowed per possession.

"They are well balanced," Hujing said. "They have got a lot of different options that can shoot the ball."

Plainville has risen as high as second in the state rankings, but dropped to fifth this week after the Word of Life loss - a team that has beaten top teams from several states. Still, the Cardinals have the resume of 2A's best squad.

Meade, ranked No. 1 in the poll at 17-0, averages 1.04 points per possession and allows 0.70 points per possession. Meade's 0.34 difference is behind Plainville's 0.35.

Plainville also has a slightly better turnover rate (0.20 to 0.21) than Meade.

Part of the reason is Casey has a 2.36/1 assist/turnover ratio, the best on the Cardinals and the top mark of his career. Last season, Casey had a 1.98 assist/turnover rate.

In the Word of Life contest, Casey hit several second-half 3s to key the comeback - and also finished with a team-high four assists. Several times, he found Brungardt for open looks down the stretch.

"He definitely impressed me," Hujing said. "To my fault, I don't know if I gave him enough credit. He is a strong kid, but he sets it up going either way off the dribble, off the catch. He is able to get it off and that's signs of a high-level player.

"He doesn't need much space to get his shot off," he added. "When he gets it off, he believes it is going in. He is unselfish with it. He knows how to use his teammates to set himself up. He has definitely got a high-basketball IQ."