North Union’s Preston Crabtree (23) makes a pass against Fairbanks’ Gatlin Luke (5) and Sean Galsterer (4) in the photo to the left. In the photo to the right, FHS’ Braylon Green (23) shoots over North Union’s Joel Krebehenne. The Union County rivals played Saturday afternoon’s game at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown Indiana. The Wildcats won, 52-31. (Journal-Tribune photos by Sam Dillon)
An iconic movie set was the location on Saturday afternoon as North Union’s boys basketball team remained unbeaten for the 2019-20 campaign.
The Wildcats defeated Union County rival Fairbanks, 52-31, during a game that was held in Knightsville, Ind.
The contest was played in the Hoosiers Gym, the location of most of the basketball footage in the 1987 Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper film, “Hoosiers.”
“Hoosiers is my favorite sports movie,” said North Union head coach Brian Terrill as his squad improved to 6-0 for the season.
The Wildcats have become more of a defensive pressing squad than in previous campaigns under Terrill.
“We’ve been experimenting with different presses and seeing how they work against different breakers,” he said. “We’ve got the quickness and the depth to do that.”
Both Terrill and Fairbanks coach Justin George felt the Panthers didn’t have too much trouble with NU’s tactic during the first half.
Fairbanks (4-4) was able to get the ball across the time line in the much smaller gymnasium and hit some timely three-point baskets by Wyatte Miller and Sean Galsterer.
The second half, however, saw North Union begin to wear down the Panthers with the press and go on to take a big lead off the defensive pressure.
“North Union played big and physical, especially during the second half, on a more compact floor,” said George. “That gave them the advantage with their press.”
Braylon Green’s trifecta gave Fairbanks a 3-0 lead early in the game.
The Wildcats took nearly three minutes to score their opening points.
Zach Vernon missed a reverse layup along the baseline, but drew a foul.
He knocked down a pair of charity tosses for the Wildcats’ initial markers.
Scoring did not come easy in the first set for either team as both tried to grow accustomed to the smaller, 1950s era roundball court.
Galsterer and Miller both tickled the twine on three-balls, while Owen Herbst hit a jumper that pushed the Panthers out to an 11-6 lead with 3:07 left in the opening stanza.
Both teams came up with empty possessions over the next few minutes.
The taller Wildcats tried to go inside for layups, while the Panthers looked to score from the outside.
Vernon scored on the offensive glass with 15 seconds to play as NU cut its deficit to 11-10 by the end of the quarter.
Green scored after his own miss to give Fairbanks a 13-10 edge early in the second period.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the contest after Preston Crabtree converted a steal off the press into a 14-13 edge.
Harley Day went strong to the basket for a 16-13 Wildcat lead.
Green cashed in on a pair of charity tosses before another stickback by Vernon pushed NU out to an 18-15 lead.
Travis Brake came off Fairbanks’ bench and banked in a jumper.
He was followed by Miller’s three-pointer that returned a very brief 20-18 edge to Fairbanks.
Crabtree followed Miller with his own trifecta and Vernon scored on a layup.
The Wildcats held a 23-20 margin as the second quarter clock neared the three-minute mark.
Crabtree was fouled while going up for an offensive board.
He swished both charity tosses as the Wildcats’ margin grew to 25-20.
The Panthers went nearly three minutes without any offensive production.
Gatlin Luke broke that drought with a basket that pulled FHS to within 25-22 with 1:16 left until halftime.
The Panthers went from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone in order to reduce North Union’s presence in the paint.
Connor Terrill buried a three-pointer over the zone at the halftime buzzer to give NU a 28-22 lead.
Vernon scored on an offensive rebound and Day went in for a layup to begin the third quarter.
All of the sudden, the Wildcats had climbed to a 32-22 margin.
North Union’s pressing defense began to cause a lot of problems for its southern county rival.
Fairbanks had trouble maintaining possession of the ball and NU converted those miscues into transition baskets.
Herbst later pulled FHS to within 34-24 with a jumper.
The Wildcats, however, went on a run that included several three-point shots against Fairbanks’ man-to-man defense.
As such, they took a 46-26 lead into the final eight minutes of action.
Fairbanks’ Gage Wilson opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, but was soon matched by Gavin Webb’s trifecta that pushed NU out to a 49-29 lead.
Several additional turnovers prevented the Panthers from cutting into the Wildcats’ lead down the stretch.
North Union
Crabtree 5-2-14, Vernon 5-2-12, Terrill 3-0-8, Day 3-0-6, Webb 2-0-6, A. Krebehenne 2-0-4, J. Krebehenne 1-0-2, Feasel 0-0-0, Wedding 0-0-0, Radcliff 0-0-0, O. Davis 0-0-0, H. Davis 0-0-0. Totals 21-4-52.
Three-point goals: Crabtree 2, Terrill 2, Webb 2.
Fairbanks
Green 3-2-9, Miller 2-0-6, Herbst 2-0-4, Galsterer 1-0-3, Wilson 1-0-3, Luke 1-0-2, Winkle 1-0-2, Brake 1-0-2, Good 0-0-0, Schultz 0-0-0, Higinbotham 0-0-0. Totals 12-2-31.
Three-point goals: Miller 2, Green 1, Galsterer 1, Wilson 1.
North Union’s jayvees won the day’s preliminary game, 42-36.
Owen Davis and Hudson Davis each tallied 15 points for the Jr. Wildcats.
Cade Ziegler led Fairbanks’ jayvees with 13.
North Union’s Connor Terrill (0) brings the ball up the floor against Wyatte Miller (3) of Fairbanks in the Hoosiers Gym. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
A photo of the Hickory Husters from the movie “Hoosiers” hangs in the gym in Knightstown, Ind. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Gatlin Luke of FHS (5) goes up for a basket against Harley Day of North Union. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
This is a panoramic view of the Hoosiers Gym in Knightstown, Ind. North Union’s boys hoop squad beat Fairbanks on Saturday during a game played on the court made famous by the movie, “Hoosiers.” (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)