The Trinity varsity basketball team faced downstate Chatham Glenwood, Jan. 10, at a neutral site. Not on a college campus or at another high school, but at a place made famous thanks to Hollywood.
The Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana, is a basketball museum. It’s where most of the scenes in the 1986 movie Hoosiers were filmed – the gym was the home of the fictional Hickory Huskers.
The gym, which has been around for over 100 years, still looks the way it did in the film. For Trinity coach Kim Coleman, it was an experience she and her players and coaches appreciated.
“It was honestly an incredible opportunity for our program to be in a historic environment,” she said. “One of the things we kept saying in our huddle was, ‘Let’s leave some history here.’ A lot of the girls kept shouting out, ‘four passes!’” (a key strategy in the movie).
Coleman said the team and staff watched Hoosiers during last month’s trip to the State Farm Holiday Classic in Bloomington-Normal as preparation for their Indiana visit.
“They thought it was real to see all the jerseys [depicted in the movie],” she said. “We were actually able to hang our jersey up. Just an incredible experience.”
Glenwood coach Alyssa Riley played basketball with Coleman collegiately at Monmouth College, and that relationship helped set the game up. Things looked promising early for Trinity (13-6) as the Blazers led at halftime. But the Titans (13-2) used a 12-0 run in the third quarter to take command. Trinity started the fourth on a 7-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to two, but the Blazers could come no closer, and Glenwood held on for a 54-50 victory.
Destiny Sacluti led Trinity with 15 points. Jasmyn Ratliff added 11 points, and Zaria Goins had 10.
“We had a really good first half and a really bad third quarter. We’ve got to be able to put four quarters together,” Coleman said. “Glenwood is an incredible team that competes. But I love that we’re getting to play different teams that diversify our resume.”
The Glenwood game capped off a busy week for the Blazers, who had won the previous three games. On Jan. 6, Trinity defeated host Fenwick in a Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red contest, 43-35. Keyera Gamble had a game-high 12 points and seven rebounds, while Goins and Chloe Santos each had nine points. Despite the victory, Coleman was concerned about a couple of things afterwards.
“We’ve got to figure out how to play defense without fouling. If we do that, we put ourselves in a better position to put games away a little sooner,” Coleman said. “The other thing is we’ve got to do a better job of knocking down our free throws; at halftime, we had already missed eight. And we didn’t really get a lot of scoring from the perimeter.”
Eleanor Gibson led Fenwick (6-10) with 11 points. Lucy McAllister and Avani added nine points apiece for the Friars, who rebounded with a 46-45 victory over visiting Leyden, Jan. 8. Williams led all scorers against Leyden with 22 points.
The Trinity basketball team lines up for the national anthem before its game against Chatham Glenwood at the historical Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana, Jan. 10. (Courtesy of Ken Trendel) 
The Trinity basketball team signed one of their jerseys this weekend at Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana. It will be hung alongside several historical jerseys, including those seen in the movie Hoosiers. (Provided by Kim Coleman) 
The historic Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana. (Courtesy of Ken Trendel) 
The fictional 1952 Hickory High School basketball team photo, as seen in the movie Hoosiers, hangs in historic Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana. (Provided by Ken Trendel) 
The “Go Hickory, All The Way!” banner, seen in the movie Hoosiers, hangs on the wall of Hoosier Gym. Most of the movie’s basketball scenes were filmed at the facility. (Provided by Ken Trendel)
On Jan. 7, Goins had 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in Trinity’s 44-38 home victory over Glenbard South. Danae Hickman added 11 points and eight rebounds and Santos nine points.
The next evening, Ratliff had 19 points, Gamble 17 rebounds, and Destinie Roe six points, six rebounds, and four blocks in the Blazers’ 38-36 victory at Crane.
Trinity hosted one of the Chicago area’s top teams, Loyola Academy, on Jan. 13 (after deadline). The Blazers welcome St. Ignatius on Jan. 15 before hosting their fourth annual MLK Showcase invitational, Jan. 19. They’ll play OPRF at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re excited for the challenge. Every game is battle-testing us in the right way,” Coleman said.
Fenwick is also participating and plays Taft at 1:30 p.m.
