Boys basketball: Wadsworth dominates Norton at game at historic Hoosiers gym

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. — The aura of the movie "Hoosiers," walls mere inches from the sidelines, the lack of a center timeline and an 84-foot court did absolutely nothing to slow down the Wadsworth boys basketball team. In fact, the Grizzlies reveled in the once-in-a-lifetime moment to play on the same court where large portions of the 1986 hit film took place. On pace to surpass triple-digits with ease through 10 minutes Monday afternoon, Wadsworth gave smaller, ancient backyard rival Norton a crash course in the intensity level needed to play a full-court brand of ball in what ended up an 80-49 non-league victory. A fiery pregame speech from Hickory Huskers coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) wasn't needed. The Grizzlies were locked in from the start. "It was fun spending the weekend with the team, and the gym, obviously, was super cool," point guard Caden Madigan said. "The locker room is sweet — different for sure — and the court was a lot smaller. We had to figure that out, but it was a lot of fun. "The facility is nice. It's super well maintained, the court looks nice, the stands look good. It was pretty cool." The convincing victory was an exclamation point to a memorable multi-day trip to the state that made basketball famous. The Grizzlies began by watching "Hoosiers" on the team charter bus — three times, to be exact — and got a sweet deal from Solomon Callaghan's future school, Wright State, to hold a full-fledged practice at the Raiders' facility on Friday. Most Wadsworth players had already seen "Hoosiers," so stepping into the 101-year-old facility that has by and large remained unchanged since 1986 was a bit surreal. The biggest on-court adjustment was court size, which mathematically isn't much different the old facilities used by previous Suburban League neighbors Norton and Highland, but the sideline walls are so tight the benches are located on the baselines. Grizzlies coach Mike Moser had been dreaming of the day for years, as he watched "Hoosiers" before each Wadsworth game during his senior season of 1996-97. To share the experience with his players meant more to him than most. "At one point I could have probably quoted the movie word for word, so for me it was really special," he said. "When I walked into the gym, I had to wipe my eyes because I teared up. "The cool part for me is bringing these kids into that because it's an older movie, an older facility. I just think the kids gained an appreciation for what they got to take part in — the history and all that. Obviously that win helped, too." The game was decided quickly, as Wadsworth (9-4) used a devastating man press to overwhelm the Panthers (7-6), who were without injured starting point guard Noah Willig and played two freshmen significant minutes. Making his return after missing three games with a hamstring injury, Callaghan gave the Grizzlies an insurmountable 32-10 lead early in the second quarter with a 3-pointer. As has been the case most of the season, the three-pronged attack of junior small forward Maxx Bosley, Callaghan and Madigan carried the offensive load. Bosley scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, Callaghan added 20 points to move into 12th place in Medina County history with 1,246 and Madigan had 15 of his 19 in the opening 16 minutes. Senior forward Alex Neville also stood out with six points and a game-high seven rebounds as Wadsworth made 29-of-56 field goals (.519), 12-of-24 3-pointers and 10-of-15 free throws. The Grizzlies also increased their county-leading scoring average to 67.2. "We talked a lot about not coming out slow," Madigan said. "Sometimes when you go on these trips and do a lot of fun things, your mind gets off of basketball. We really had to lock in and come out fast." Norton settled down after the horrid start — Callaghan sat the final 6:17 of the first half with three fouls — and cut the deficit below 20 points multiple times before running out of gas. The Panthers got 13 points and five rebounds from first-team All-Metro Athletic Conference center Lucas Dobbins and 25 combined points from freshmen guards Buddy Willig (14 points) and Isaac Carter (11) but committed eight critical turnovers in the the first quarter. The Grizzlies had a lot to do with that, as they wanted to make sure the 4-hour bus ride home was filled with winners — just like movie. "The scene and opponent," Moser said, "don't dictate how we play basketball." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 80, Norton 49 at Hoosier Gym, Knightstown, Ind. NORTON &emsp;&emsp;10 11 16 12 — 49 WADSWORTH &emsp;&emsp;29 12 17 22 — 80 Norton — Andrew Lewis 1-0-3, Will Goff 2-0-4, Lucas Dobbins 4-3-13, Thomas Hoffman 0-0-0, Buddy Willig 5-3-14, Isaac Carter 5-1-11, Elijah Carter 1-0-2, Joey Ondo 0-0-0, Russell Duncan 0-2-2, Zach Bowman 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-9-49. Wadsworth — Maxx Bosley 9-2-23, Alex Neville 3-0-6, Finn Schmitt 0-2-2, Solomon Callaghan 7-2-20, Caden Madigan 6-4-19, Luke McMillen 1-0-3, Callaghan Corell 1-0-2, Zach Wise 0-0-0, Colson Matheny 1-0-3, Jake Schmeltzer 1-0-2, Caden Shriver 0-0-0. TOTALS: 29-10-80. 3-point goals — Dobbins 2, Willig, Lewis, Bosley 3, Callaghan 4, Madigan 3, McMillen, Matheny. Rebounds — Norton 21 (Dobbins 5), Wadsworth 25 (Neville 7). Assists — Norton 11 (Hoffman 6), Wadsworth 11 (Madigan 3). Records — Norton (7-6), Wadsworth (9-4). Junior varsity — Norton 51, Wadsworth 39 (W: Matheny 20).