Dawson, Willard get 'movie script' win

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. — Jimmy Chitwood, meet Mason Dawson. Playing on the home court of the fictional "Hickory Huskers" from the 1986 movie Hoosiers, the Willard senior matched the heroics of Chitwood from the film. Trailing Monroeville 59-57 with six seconds left inside the famous gym in Knightstown, Ind., the Crimson Flashes ran a full-court play and got Dawson the ball in the right corner. He launched a 3-pointer that was good with four seconds left to give Willard the 60-59 win. In the movie, Chitwood takes the dramatic game-winning shot to win an Indiana state title with two seconds left for Hickory. "Our guys battled as a team and had a senior step up and hit a huge shot," Willard head coach Joe Bedingfield said after his team improved to 7-1. "Mason got his Jimmy Chitwood moment. I'm really proud of our team today." There was confusion after the Dawson 3 because the clock did not start. The Eagles (4-2) got the ball with four seconds left and missed a 3 at the buzzer. Prior to the game, Bedingfield admitted he was concerned with Monroeville's size while playing on a smaller-than-normal court. Monroeville jumped out to a 16-8 lead after one quarter after five points each from Maverick Myers and Cole Perry. The Eagles extended their lead to 30-20 at halftime as Myers again scored five of his team's points in the second quarter. But the second half belonged to the Crimson Flashes and sophomore Jaxson Hall. Hall scored 11 of Willard's 18 points in the third quarter as it outscored the Eagles by six to trim the margin to 42-38 entering the final eight minutes. Hall then scored nine points in the fourth quarter for Willard, and Dawson added nine points for 18 of their team's 22 points, including the game-winning triple in the closing seconds. "I thought we came out early in the game and did a lot of the things we wanted to," Monroeville head coach Bob Fries said. "We played good defense, got the ball inside and hit some open three's. The second half, we didn't take care of the basketball well enough. "We had some missed defensive assignments and didn't do a good enough job controlling Hall. I was happy with how hard the guys played and how well we responded every time Willard went on a run to close the gap or take the lead." Bedingfield noted Jacob Beamer only scored two points, but his basket late tied the game before the Eagles took the lead prior to Dawson's shot. Maverick Myers made six 3s for 24 points to pace the Eagles, while Perry had 11. "Willard did a great job executing and hitting some big-time three's late," Fries said. "Joe has a nice team and they are going to have a lot of success this season and going forward. It stings to lose this one, especially with a four-hour ride home to think about it. "But getting to experience a tight game with a very good Willard team will help us the rest of the season." Hall scored 33 of Willard's 60 points, including 20 in the second half. Dawson finished with 15 points. 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. 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. Originally a home game for Monroeville, the teams considered playing at Rocket Arena in Cleveland before a Cavaliers game before settling on the nearly four-hour trip to Indiana. "We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores led by a senior who created a memory for a lifetime, and that's what high school sports are all about," Bedingfield said. "It was nice for our kids to experience the movie last week as a team, then create their own memory and movie moment today. "The people there were tremendous going through the background of the gym, and Monroeville was a quality opponent who agreed to give up a home game to make this happen. We really appreciate both administrations and fans for making the trip. They got their money's worth." Fries said the entire trip had a travel team vibe to it with players and families going to dinner, swimming at the hotel pool, and playing cards and games. "Everyone was having a good time while hopefully creating some team bonding," he said. "It was a very cool experience to play in that gym. Anyone that is a fan of basketball or especially the movie Hoosiers should take the time to attend a game there. "It was a loud, great environment with two teams from four hours away. I'm sure it would have been a loud and exciting venue when local teams played there." Both teams return to league play after the calendar changes to 2026. The Flashes host Port Clinton in an SBC Bay Division game, while the Eagles visit New London in Firelands Conference play on Jan. 3. MONROEVILLE (4-2) Maverick Myers 8-2—24; Link Schaffer-Paull 3-0—8; Ethan Pommersch 2-1—5; Alec Schafer 2-1—5; Cole Perry 3-3—11; Colton Koch 3-0—6. TOTALS 21-7—59. WILLARD (7-1) Kaleb Weaver 3-0—6; Jaxson Hall 12-8—33; Jacob Beamer 1-0—2; Jonas Tackett 0-1—1; Mason Dawson 6-3—15; JJ Bedingfield 0-1—1; Gage Stover 0-2—2. TOTALS 22-15—60. Willard 8 12 18 22 — 60 Monroeville 16 14 12 17 — 59 3-point FGs: (W) Dawson 2, Hall; (M) Myers 6, Schaffer-Paull 2.