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The true story of a friendship...
The budding friendship of two twelve-year-olds, centers on the rundown dirt basketball court, is like that of many young boys. They are friends. They are playful competitors after school. They shoot hoops until dusk before heading off in different directions in time for supper. But this is not a typical friendship for their small southern Tennessee town in 1964. Eddie is white and Bill is black.
Gallatin, Tennessee, is slow to take on change in the civil rights era of the late sixties. Bill feels the tension within the community and personally experiences the local racism that makes it more difficult to join Eddie in things they want to do. He begins to realize that laws do not treat both blacks and whites equally.
But both boys are talented athletes, as Bill perfects his basketball game and Eddie gravitates to baseball, in deference to his older brother Bo’s unrivaled talent on the basketball court. Until tragedy strikes.
Bo is horrifically injured in an automobile accident. While his long recovery leaves him confined to a wheelchair, Bo pushes Eddie to pursue his love of basketball and carry on the family mantle. Eddie and Bill begin to forgo their after-school scrimmages with the growing demands of chores and high school studies. Basketball becomes the focus for both boys, as they become stars of their respective teams – one in the all-white Gallatin high school, one in the all-black.
The two schools face the prospect of merging into one, within a year. Looming rivalries take on racial tensions, as for the first time ever, the schools are pitted against one another in the basketball district finals. Both Eddie and Bill are star players and each feels the responsibility to leave a team legacy. After this season, the schools will integrate and the team rosters, the coaches and the loyalties will forever be just a part of the past.
But it’s game night now and the gymnasium is filled to capacity. The stands are divided – black across from white. The sheriff calls in extra manpower. Play is aggressive and it gets rough. The final score flashes on the scoreboard and the crowd goes wild… tension thickens. Someone in the stands pulls a knife, ready just in case. And then silence. Out in center court, two young men, brought together in their moments of personal glory, touch a community and change a town forever.
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