DaytonDailyNews.com

Linda Tebbe, the New Knoxville School principal, produced a clipboard from under a front office desk. On it was a sheet detailing enrollment from kindergarten through 12th grade, all housed in the updated 1938 orange brick building that stands in the middle of Main Street.

She counted the boys — 15 freshmen, 25 sophomores ("bigger than the whole eighth grade put together"), 16 juniors and 16 seniors. With a group taken from these 72 available bodies, the Rangers will today, March 13, begin a two-game quest to put their area of 907 people on the Ohio boys basketball map.

They also hope to pair with nearby Anna to continue the sterling athletic reputation that the villages and flatland towns of rural western Ohio are known for.

After spending time driving through both towns — which, the locals will joke, didn't take long to navigate — one story about this season's state boys basketball tournament remains the commitment of the smaller schools to their teams and the skill of those teams from years — and sometimes generations — of growth and bonding.

In New Knoxville, Tebbe walked me through the school that was originally constructed with the chiseled phrase "Religion and Education Safeguard a Nation." All lockers remain unlocked as first-graders pass high school juniors in the hallways.

There are honest-to-goodness telephone booths on the half-mile portion of Ohio 29 that constitutes the town's main drag, mixed with white sheets of paper asking the Division IV Rangers to "Get-R-Won," an adopted slogan.

"These are exciting times," Tebbe said.

At the Anna Market, 13 miles to the southeast where many of the D-III Rockets probably stop for snacks near the school, a sign advertises $2.49-per-pound rump roast along with "Good Luck Anna Rockets." The school sold out its allotted 1,800 tickets on Tuesday night, so Athletic Director Mike Muehlfeld was on the road Wednesday to retrieve 500 more. The old gym is now an auditorium in which students attend music classes.

One of the most popular people throughout the school is Matt Meyer, the Anna coach who doubles as the middle school principal.

"It's been hectic," Meyer says with a smile.

Both towns have a noticeable mix of old-fashioned living and updated lifestyle. In New Knoxville, after reading on one de facto community bulletin board at the Marathon station that an available cat is "a good mouser," a visitor can enter the school and see construction creating the newest improvements since the last additions in 1999 (including a new gym floor).

In Anna, the story is famously told that the "new" school, built in 1938 and since updated, replaced a building that crumbled over an earthquake. Administrators, meanwhile, communicate via walkie-talkie.

"We like our history and our present," Meyer said.

The basketball success celebrates both.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or

knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.