Apr 24, 2012
Tiny Indiana town’s basketball team just wants to win one game
The high school basketball team in Medora, Indiana loses a lot. Almost all the time, in fact. It’s no wonder, though, since it’s a school with fewer than 20 people in each grade in a town with a total population that doesn’t even reach 600.
In 2009, inspired by the team’s tenacity despite terrible odds, a journalist at the New York Times wrote an article about them. This motivated filmakers Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart to travel to Indiana (at their own expense) and start documenting Medora’s 2010-11 season.
Why will this movie be interesting, let alone exciting? Rothbart says…
The Medora Hornets were riding a 44-game losing streak when we arrived. As the third-smallest high school in Indiana, winning has become almost impossible.
You know how most sports documentaries are about a team trying to win the championship? Here in our film the team is just trying to win a single game, which means that every game takes on the drama and intensity of a championship game…
And to add depth and meaning to the team’s quest for a win, the movie tells the stories of the troubled yet inspiring kids on the team.
Check out the trailer/fundraising video that they’re using to raise the money they need to finish the film…
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I actually played this team in highschool. They were always the first team we played as it was a way of starting our season on a positive note. (We too were a small town southern Indiana basketball team struggling to get by). However, they were doing pretty good this last year and nearly beat us. Infact they sent the game into overtime. Anyways, I think what this film is setting out to do is great. Small town culture is definitely in decline and to capture it on documentary is a noble task. I am excited you posted this. Thanks.
I understand the frustration. A local small 1A school in our area went over 9 years without winning a game. I was a basketball official that called the game that was their first win in that 9 years. What a time to celebrate.
Cant wait to see this!