BENNETT'S MINUTES: ‘Hickory’ gym cures SP hoop woes

Sunday, January 29, 2017
South Putnam coach Greg Dean addresses his team at halftime of Saturday’s game at the historic Hoosier Gym in the home locker room used by the Hickory Huskers in the movie “Hoosiers.”
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

KNIGHTSTOWN — Each sport has its revered locations overflowing with legions of historical perspective.

Baseball has Yankee Stadium, golf has the Augusta Country Club, football has Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, college basketball has Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium and auto racing has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

For Indiana high school basketball, some people may argue that location is New Castle’s gym, which is the largest in the world.

Others would contend, however, that the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown — the homecourt of the fictional Hickory Huskers in the 1986 movie “Hoosiers” earns that title.

Having been fortunate enough to cover games in each of those venues this month, I would have to give the nod to the Hoosier Gym. I have been to New Castle several times, and while that is an awesome site its does not elicit the memories for me that the Hoosier Gym does.

I attended the first showing of “Hoosiers” in Indiana back in 1986, and not only loved the basketball aspect of the film but also the gym locations that reminded me of past visits to such great buildings such as Van Buren High School, Brazil High School, the Downtown Gym in Sullivan, Adams Memorial Coliseum in Vincennes and the old Dugger gym.

South Putnam coach Greg Dean is an admitted fanatic of the film and all of its historical lore, and jumped at the chance to take his team to the Hoosier Gym on Saturday to participate in the D-ONE Husker Classic.

He not only wanted to see his team end its nine-game losing streak, which it did, but also wanted to enhance or develop an appreciation for the history of Indiana high school basketball.

South Putnam’s Thomas Fanning brings the ball upcourt in the Hoosier Gym on Saturday.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

The fact that Dean won his 100th career game was just icing on the cake.

“It’s a fun day, and it’s a special day for the kids,” he said. “Kids don’t get to do this all the time, and we really tried to tell them how this is a privilege and not a right to get to play here. I know the coaches all enjoyed it also, having grown up with the movie.”

Dean thought the accidental timing of the special day and the stoppage of the losing streak worked out well.

“I told our kids it was a good day to get off the ‘schneid’ and this was a great place to do it,” he said.

The Eagles had a much shorter night than usual, dropping a 27-point game at Cascade on Friday night and then getting up early to hop on a bus and make the 90-minute trip to Knightstown for a 10 a.m. tour of the facility.

Dean’s young team, which has no seniors and only two juniors, handled the unusual circumstances well and played with the passion and vigor he expects of his players each time they take the floor.

Sophomores Allen Plunkett and Dalton Scott are both big fans of the movie, and both were impressed to enter in person the facility they had seen numerous times on film.

“It was kind of crazy to walk into it and have all the stuff on the wall that you see in the movie,” Plunkett said. “You couldn’t imagine you were playing on it. It’s awesome.”

The Hoosier Gym court is a little shy of the standard 84x50 foot alignment on all newer gyms, and actually aided the Eagles in this particular game.

Dean had his team in a 1-3-1 halfcourt trap for several stretches of the game, and that job was made easier by having less territory to cover than usual.

“I think that helped a little bit,” Scott said. “It helped us get better pressure on them and force more turnovers.”

At times, Saturday’s game resembled some of the contests portrayed in the film, with the smaller dimensions helping to create more contact between the players.

Scott and Plunkett are both football players, and didn’t mind the change.

“It made things a little tougher, and some of the calls didn’t go our way,” Scott said, perhaps referring to a time when Plunkett got tangled up with a Lighthouse Christian Academy defender and the pair innocently fell to the floor. Plunkett and the Lions’ player received a double foul. “It was like one of the games in the movie, but the fans weren’t throwing stuff on the court.”

Plunkett estimated he has seen the film close to 30 times.

“I might even go home and watch it again tonight,” he said after the game.

Dean hopes the victory can be a catalyst for the rest of the season. His team lost to eight different teams over the past nine games (playing Cascade twice), and those teams have a combined 84-48 record.

“It’s a memory they’ll have for a while,” he said. “We want to make sure that we are continuing to improve every day. We have Rockville coming in on Thursday, and we have a fun time of basketball coming up with the county tournament after that.”

Plunkett and Scott agreed.

“We played pretty well and it was a good win,” Plunkett said. “I think we’ll get a lot of momentum going into our next games. This game will help us to go on and win some games.”

Scott noted that the relatively easy nature of the game, since the difference never got less than 15 points in the second half, also helped.

“A lot of people got to play, and that’s really good,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

No offense to any of the other gyms where the Eagles will go this year, but it will be hard to top the aura of the Hoosier Gym.

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