Boys basketball: Black River reels in a win over Loudonville at historic Hoosier Gym

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. — Eric Groesser, Evan Ladina and their Black River teammates received a crash course in the cultural impact of the 1986 film "Hoosiers," considered by many the greatest basketball movie of all time. The Pirates watched the flick Friday night — many for the first time — fewer than 24 hours before tipoff at the historic Hoosier Gym, home of the fictional Hickory Huskers. The 101-year-old, 600-seat facility remains true to the film, complete with the iconic maroon and harvest gold "Go Hickory. All the way" banner above one of the baskets. The Black River players enjoyed "Hoosiers" at a nearby hotel, but the real treat was playing at a unique venue with a beautifully maintained circa 1936 playing surface, wooden walls along each baseline that made diving plays dangerous, autographed memorabilia from NBA legends such as Indiana legend Larry Bird and the basement home locker room where coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gave his inspirational speech in "Hoosiers." The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity did not go to waste, as the Pirates flipped momentum with a 1-2-2 press that led to a convincing 72-51 non-league victory over Loudonville. "When I first saw the court, I was actually kind of scared to play here because of the size," Ladina said. "We're a very athletic team, but I did take a few falls right into the walls. I was a little scared there, and so was my mom (Christy)." Black River coach J.R. Wilson rented the facility for a practice Friday, allowing the players to accommodate themselves with the much smaller court. The most striking feature was no center timeline, as players needed to cross a line similar to where the volleyball line is on modern courts to avoid 10-second violations but could then retreat to another line behind the "H" logo at center court. There also was less than ideal lighting — though sunlight through elevated windows created picturesque scenes at times — the aforementioned wooden walls barely a heel's length from the sidelines, benches on the baselines and whizzing errant passes that could drill spectators, which happened twice. "The half-court line was especially weird, because you had to cross the second line but you could go back past it, and normally you couldn't do that," Groesser said. "That and you should never dive to try and save a loose ball from going out of bounds because you could run right into the wall. "(The movie) was pretty cool because they were the smallest school around and they still won the state championship against other schools that were way bigger." The muscular Groesser again had a standout offensive performance, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Ladina added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Cayden Hinderman-Powell (14 points, seven rebounds) and Johnny Kray (11, five rebounds, four assists) also reached double figures in scoring and Ridge Martin added three 3-pointers. Loudonville got seven points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals from Isaac Gessner and four 3-pointers from Zach Frankford — the Redbirds shot 9-for-30 from deep — but was annihilated 50-24 on the boards and made only 6 of 15 free throws. "At first we struggled, but then we started to get boards," Groesser said. "I felt like we outrebounded them in the second half pretty well (28-13). We also made our shots, really." The Pirates also used the court size to their advantage after the Redbirds (0-2) torched poor man defense to go up 22-11 with 5:58 left in the first half. Wilson switched to the 1-2-2 — a zone scheme now largely obsolete thanks to bigger courts and 3-pointers — and the Redbirds imploded during a 25-3 run that stretched into the early stages of the third quarter. Black River then tried man-to-man again, allowing Loudonville to scratch to 36-33 before Wilson went back to the 1-2-2. An 11-3 run followed almost immediately, and a 10-0 splurge to begin the fourth quarter gave the game blowout status. The Pirates are now 3-1 for the first time since the 2009-10 season, which happened to be the last time they finished with a winning record. And while Jimmy Chitwood didn't hit a game-winning shot for Black River, the Pirates felt like champions nonetheless. "Oh, man, this was an amazing opportunity," Ladina said. "Coach really hyped it up — he's really doing a lot for us — and playing here was more than enough. "(The movie) was actually really good. I was really interested." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Black River 72, Loudonville 51 LOUDONVILLE (51): Dilan Wade 2-2-8, Judah Layton 1-1-3, Dakota Shook 4-1-9, Zach Frankford 4-0-12, Isaac Gessner 3-0-7, Aaron Stephenson 1-1-3, Dylan Fenton 1-0-3, Brady Gessner 1-0-3, Lane Mack 0-0-0, Hunter Polen 1-1-3. Totals 18-6-51. BLACK RIVER (72): Eric Groesser 9-2-20, Evan Ladina 4-6-14, Chase McKenzie 0-0-0, Cayden Hinderman-Powell 4-4-14, Ridge Martin 3-0-9, Blake Hopkins 2-0-4, Johnny Kray 5-0-11, Jordan Lees 0-0-0, Aden McFarlane 0-0-0, Stephan Kozopas 0-0-0, Elijah Sherrill 0-0-0, Owen Chapman 0-0-0. Totals 27-12-72. Loudonville&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;51 Black River&emsp;&emsp; 9&emsp;&emsp;22&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;24&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;72 Three-point goals: Loudonville 9-30 (Frankford 4, Wade 2, Fenton, I. Gessner, B. Gessner), Black River 6-23 (Martin 3, Hinderman-Powell 2, Kray). Field goals: Loudonville 18-52 (34.6 percent), Black River 27-67 (40.3 percent). Free throws: Loudonville 6-15 (40.0 percent), Black River 12-20 (60.0 percent). Rebounds: Loudonville 24 (Stephenson 6), Black River 50 (Ladina 10). Turnovers: Loudonville 12, Black River 14. Total fouls: Loudonville 17, Black River 14. Junior varsity: Black River, 50-43