Monroeville, Willard to experience "Hoosiers"

The scene played out perfectly in Joe Bedingfield's memory. Growing up in Willard, the current head basketball coach of the Crimson Flashes always envisioned himself as the fictional Jimmy Chitwood and the late former Willard head coach Bob Haas as Norman Dale. "I think every kid growing up thought about being Jimmy and taking that last shot to win a state title," Bedingfield said of one of the main characters from the 1986 smash-hit film "Hoosiers." "That movie also made me dream about taking the group of guys I grew up with and leading Willard to state," Bedingfield said. "We got to regionals, but not quite that far, but I think every kid grows up and dreams of that last shot and having the confidence to tell your coach, 'I'll make it.'" On Saturday, two area basketball teams will get the unique chance to experience the venue of one of the most famous sports and inspirational movies ever made. The Crimson Flashes (6-1) will face nearby Monroeville (4-1) inside Hoosiers Gym in Knightstown, Ind. The junior varsity game tips at 10 a.m., with the varsity teams meeting about 25 minutes later. In the movie, the building served as the home venue for fictional Hickory. It has now become not only a tourist hot spot but also a place where teams can play regulation games. Bedingfield first got the idea when he was scouting Elyria Open Door Christian prior to facing the Patriots at Cedar Point's Sports Center two years ago. In the game he watched on film, Open Door took on Willoughby Cornerstone Christian and the OHSAA's all-time points leader, Quinn Kwasniak. "You also leave a jersey there after playing to commemorate the game," Bedingfield said. "I just thought it looked really cool, and it's one of my favorite movies ever. Growing up in Willard when I did, you could relate to a lot of the plot. "Basketball was so important here with Coach Haas and how the town reacted to the team," he added. "You kind of felt like you lived it with that movie coming out when it did. There's not a lot to do in Willard, and basketball was really important at the time." Now, people can watch games on their phone or television in some fashion. "So it's kind of nice to bring back that small-town vibe to a game like this at a really cool place," Bedingfield said. "We're excited to go, and we thank Monroeville for agreeing to play there. "I don't know if strategically it was a good move on my part with how big they are in a smaller gym, but it's two communities that have a little bit of a tradition and a small-town feel. Hopefully we can relive some of that nostalgia and a little bit of history." The population in Knightstown, Ind. was 2,140 at the 2020 census. It is 32 miles east of Indianapolis. By comparison, the Willard population is 6,106, and Monroeville is 1,388. The gym opened in 1922, but then by 1966 it had become obsolete. It was closed when a modern gym was built at a new high school. For the next 20 years, the old gym saw little use. But then some movie producers came to town looking to shoot a film about Hoosier basketball hysteria. After a statewide search, the writers and producers of the movie settled on Knightstown because they needed to shoot the film within 50 miles of Indianapolis, where the main unit of film shooting was located. Both teams leave on Friday for the trip, which is 230 miles and just under four hours from Willard. The Eagles sacrificed a home game to make it happen. "Joe asked me if we were interested, and at first we discussed a game at Rocket Arena before a Cavaliers game," Monroeville head coach Bob Fries said. "But we settled on this. Maybe it tugged at me as an older guy watching Hoosiers. "It's one of my favorite sports movies of all time. We've never been there, and it's cool that we're playing a team 15 minutes down the road — but going four hours to a unique venue to play them." Both programs have ties to each other that are similar to Hoosiers. In the 1983-84 season, both Huron County schools, separated by 15 miles, advanced to the state championships at St. John Arena in Columbus. The Crimson Flashes were edged by Wheelersburg, 70-64, in a Class AA semifinal. The Eagles won a pair of close games over Maria Stein Marion Local, 72-66, and over Columbus Wehrle, 66-62, to win the Class A state title. Two years later, a similar story played out with small-town Hickory winning it all in the movie, which was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Both teams planned movie nights to watch the likes of Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper before heading to Indiana. "There is not a lot around there, but there is this cool gym from an impactful movie," Fries said. "It will be a cool and fun experience, and kind of nostalgic, to go and play a good team there." Bedingfield noted the game had to happen over Christmas break because of the travel involved. Ultimately, the coach said it's a good opportunity to make a great memory. "It's our job as high school coaches to try and make it about the journey and creating memories," Bedingfield said. "This is something they'll always be able to say, that they got to play where they filmed Hoosiers. "I think they are excited. When we watched it, we put it on a projector at the school, and the guys clapped at the end of the movie," he added. "I think a lot of them thought it was better than they thought it would be, which makes sense. It really grips you by the end."