ALL FOR ONE

The go-to guy is gone. Gilbert Arenas has left the building.

But the show goes on at Grant High, where the solo artistry of the last three seasons has been replaced by an ensemble.

Now everyone is getting into the act.

“I love the idea that we’ve got 10, 11 guys who are going to contribute to this team, almost evenly,” Grant Coach Howie Levine said. “I love that.”

Warm fuzzies come easily for Levine after watching the Lancers’ first five games without Arenas, a show-stopping, do-it-all player who averaged 28.7 points in three seasons and scored twice as many points as any other player in Grant history.

The Lancers (4-1), with only a loss to No. 3-ranked Oxnard (7-1), have had four different leading scorers and have won their last two games by an average of 26 points.

“We’ve got people stepping up every game, and that makes it fun,” Levine said. “It keeps us on our toes: ‘Who’s going to step up today?’

“And it takes 11 guys busting their butts to have that chance to step up and be ready when the opportunity exists.”

While Arenas starts at guard for No. 4-ranked Arizona (8-1), the Lancers have become reacquainted with the true meaning of teamwork.

“We were better with Gil because he was the top-rated player,” said Ryan Logan, a senior point guard who is averaging 10.4 points and 3.2 assists. “But now that he’s gone, we’re starting to play more together, starting to play more as a team and we’re jelling into one.”

No Lancer has scored more than 22 points in a game this season, but five players are averaging 8.6 points or more.

“We have to work a lot harder [without Arenas] to score points,” Levine said. “I think we have to move the ball a lot better.”

The Lancers, who play McNair of Canada today in a Bell-Jeff tournament opener, have a taller lineup this season.

Three starters are 6 feet 4 or taller and the trio has been dominating opponents on the boards. Brandon Edison, a 6-4 senior, Mike Charleston, a 6-5 junior, and Krishna Evans, a 6-5 senior, each average 8.4 rebounds or more.

Evans, a four-year varsity player and Grant’s only returning starter, played with Arenas for three years and is acclimating to life without the high-profile player.

“I think it’s a little bit more intense,” Evans said. “Everyone is trying to be a part of the team. Last year we kind of stood around watching Gilbert because he was so good.”

Although the Lancers have looked good early, Levine is not pounding his chest. He understands that three of the Lancers’ victories--over San Fernando, Calabasas and Oak Park--were against less-talented teams.

Still, Levine was encouraged by Grant’s 83-74 victory over Newbury Park in the Thousand Oaks tournament, a game which featured a 32-point turnaround. Grant trailed Newbury Park by 11 points early in the second quarter and led by as many as 21 in the third quarter.

A 62-47 loss to Oxnard in Grant’s second game was disappointing to Levine. Grant trailed by only four points with four minutes left and forced 22 turnovers, but the Lancers shot 23.5%.

The Lancers miss Arenas the most in close games.

Arenas, who is Arizona’s third leading scorer at 12.7, was the region’s quintessential go-to guy last season.

Despite consistently facing double and triple coverage, The Times’ Valley player of the year averaged 32.8 points to lead Grant to a 19-7 record.

Unfortunately for the Lancers, Arenas’ last game was far from his best. Near the end of the third quarter, he had made only two of 21 shots in an eventual 68-41 loss to Westchester in the first round of the City Championship playoffs.

A season later, it’s anyone’s guess who will make or break Grant’s season.

“When crunch time came, we depended on [Arenas],” Logan said. “But now anybody on our team can make the game-winning shot. That’s kind of a better feeling, to know that we’re not depending on one player. It’s all of us.”