Going back in time to Pleasantville

I had no idea what to expect when I went to Pleasantville, Indiana Tuesday night for a Dugger Union game. Coach Greg Kinnaman told me his team would be playing in the Pleasantville Gym via email Sunday and I had no idea what that was.

After some brief research I knew I had to go to the game. Dugger plays in Pleasantville Community Gym once a year but was unable to do so in 2020 because of COVID-19.

Terry Schwinghammer wrote about the gym for this paper as I can tell all sports editors or fans of basketball need to see a game at Pleasantville. The gym was restored over a decade ago after years of neglect. It’s ceiling, windows, five rows of seats and backboards make you feel like you are going back in time to the movie “Hoosiers.”

The Pleasantville Blue Streaks played here before the school consolidated into Dugger over a half century ago. Not everything about the gym is perfect. Parking is scarce, the scoreboard has a light or two burned out and dead flies covered the window sills. Getting good action shots in the gym as a photographer was difficult.

Even with all that, I’m glad I went. The atmosphere was great as the small gym made everyone feel like they were more involved in the game. The Pleasantville Community Gym is the star of the town as you can tell people in Jefferson Township want to support it. It was a true community event, something not all high school games in small Indiana towns feel like anymore.

Excitement for high school basketball in this state has been in a decline for years as many point to class basketball. For me, the venues matter. Regular season high school games were not made to be played at large gyms with rolled out bleachers. When you are sitting 20 rows up your smart phone can distract you with ease. If you are two rows up and are on your phone you end up getting hit by a bad pass.

Tuesday night I came away thinking more schools should do this. What if Shakamak played a game in Midland or Coalmont? What if WRV played a game in Worthington or Lyons just to do something different? Maybe Linton or Bloomfield should play a game in an auxiliary gym?

Dugger won the game Tuesday but I think everyone who wanted to see a throwback basketball game were the big winners.

Nathan is the Sports Editor for the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npacegcdw@gmail.com. His “Low Budget Sports Show” airs weekly on Facebook Live.