Historic 'Hoosier' Hysteria

KNIGHTSTOWN, Indiana - For an afternoon, it was a touch of old-school basketball for the boys and girls basketball teams of Celina and Coldwater.

The teams traveled two hours to central Indiana to play in the historic Hoosier Gym, the 100-year old facility that also served as the home gym for the Hickory Huskers in the movie "Hoosiers"

The schools split the varsity twinbill - the Coldwater girls beating Celina 55-19 while the Bulldog boys picked up their second straight win over the Cavaliers in just over a week 48-43 - while the fans, which nearly packed the 600-seat stands, took in the ambiance of the gym located 30 miles east of Indianapolis.

For Coldwater girls basketball coach Amy Meyer, it was like coming full circle.

"I've seen the movie. I'm a big Indiana Hoosiers fan. As a basketball junkie, this is tremendous. Like a kid in a candy store," said Meyer, who noted that she had the chance to play at another legendary venue in Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University during her playing days at Xavier. "(The officials of the gym) said to take it all in. I don't know if I can sit here and take it all in."

"It's a cool experience being here," said Celina girls coach Brendan Rushton. "The girls soaked it in before the game. Obviously, not the result we wanted, but we're excited to be here and playing.

The games completed a two-year mission by both schools to try and play at the gym, which hosts games from teams all over Indiana and other states during the season. The teams were scheduled to play last year, but the pandemic forced the postponement with the chance to get a date for the next season.

Both schools got into the spirit. Coldwater hosted a viewing of the movie last Sunday while Celina boys basketball coach Adam Johns had the team over to watch the movie at his house.

"They were joking that I needed to get thrown out and let coach Smith (Celina assistant Doug Smith) take over," said Johns, referring to a scene in the movie where Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) got himself ejected to let Shooter Flatch (Dennis Hopper) coach.

The gym

While it was the first time Coldwater played on the floor, boys coach Nick Fisher remembered when the team went down for a walkthrough practice several years ago when Fisher's son Ted was playing for the Cavs.

"Mike Bruns (the former Coldwater coach) took the the varsity down for a walkthrough when Ted was a senior," said coach Fisher. "That's one of the first things those guys will talk about when I see them."

The gym, which hosted its first game in 1921, retains the old-school feel. Due to the limited space on the sidelines, the team benches were in the end zones, meaning players had to run to the scorers area in the middle of the court to report in. The smaller floor size required extra lines to give the teams more room to run plays without being called for over-and-back.

"The kids adjusted pretty good," said coach Fisher. "We got film on Indian Lake when they played there earlier this year and we talked to Fort Loramie coach Corey Britton, who played there two years ago. (The court size) didn't really affect the game."

For those who played on courts the size of the Hoosiers Gym, it was a bit of déjà vu.

"This was the gyms we grew up in," said Coldwater athletic director Eric Goodwin, who played his high school ball in the bandbox gym at old Mendon-Union. "Ohio City, Mendon, all the gyms back then were this way. It's awesome to see this. It's an adjustment for the kids because every gym is new."

While all four teams and the cheerleaders wore their current uniforms. Coldwater girls assistant coach Toby Siefring did wear a suit that would have made Shooter proud.

At the end of the of the girls game, Coldwater's Brooke Gerlach channeled her inner Ollie McLellan, the Huskers' sub and manager, by trying an underhanded free throw like Ollie did in the tournament. Gerlach banked in the toss, bringing a roar from the Coldwater and Celina fans.

"We all watched the movie (the Sunday before the game). They asked if they had the chance if they were allowed," said Meyer. "I told them if they were woman enough to go up and shoot like that, just don't airball it."

THE GIRLS GAME

Coldwater 55, Celina 19

The teams played fairly even early with Celina leading 3-2 before Coldwater's Jenna Leugers putting the Cavaliers up for good with a 3-pointer to make it 5-3 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.

Riley Rismiller took over starting in the second quarter, scoring 10 of her game-high 25 points in the second as the Cavaliers led 33-13 at the half. Rismiller then added nine more points in the third quarter as Coldwater outscored Celina 13-2 to raise the lead to 46-15.

In the fourth quarter both coaches emptied their benches as the Cavaliers raised the margin past 35 points to trigger the running clock.

Leugers scored all 10 of her points in the first half for Coldwater. Taylor Klingshirn finished with six points to lead Celina.

Coldwater hosts Crestview on Tuesday while Celina is off until Thursday when the Bulldogs host Elida in Western Buckeye League play.

THE BOYS GAME

Celina 48, Coldwater 43

The Bulldogs got out to a fast start, leading 13-7 after the first quarter and extending the lead to 29-16 late in the second quarter before Evan Harlamert nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 10-point break at the half.

Kevin Fisher started the Cavalier comeback in the second half with five straight points followed by a trey from Luke Schwieterman that trimmed the margin to 29-27 in the opening two minutes of the third quarter. Coldwater closed within two at 32-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

A bucket from Dylan Feister and a free throw from Braylon Gabes extended the Celina lead to 35-30 early in the fourth quarter, but buckets from Tyler Schwieterman and Marcel Blasingame cut it to one and then Tyler Schwieterman scored again to give Coldwater the 36-35 lead with four minutes to play. Caleb Gabes put Celina back in front with a 3-pointer to make it 38-36 with 2:57 remaining, only to have Harlamert knot the game seconds later with a layup.

Braylon Gabes put Celina ahead for good with a bucket with 1:57 to play. Coldwater missed its chance to tie and Josh Rasawehr hit two free throws to raise the margin to four. Coldwater was unable to get any points until a Luke Schwieterman bucket with 18.6 seconds to play, but Braylon Gabes hit four straight free throws and Caleb Gabes added a pair of his own to ice the game as Kevin Fisher's trey right before the buzzer proved to be the final bucket of the night on the Hoosier Gym floor.

Braylon Gabes led Celina with 15 points. Rasawehr added 13 points and 13 rebounds with Caleb Gabes coming off the bench for 10 points.

Fisher led Coldwater with 15 points.

While Celina returns to action on Tuesday at Versailles, Coldwater is off until Friday when the Cavaliers travel to New Bremen for MAC play.

Photo Album of the girls game.
Photo album of the boys game.