Eminence vs. Eminence: How two schools created the ultimate small-town matchup

There's plenty of high school basketball to be desired on any given weekend in Indiana, but there's one special matchup happening Saturday in Morgan County that may be unbeknownst to many. A meeting that will display the heart of the game on its smallest level.

Two schools separated by 173 miles with the same name, both donning red, white and blue, and from states that pride themselves on the game of basketball.

It's Eminence of Indiana vs. Eminence of Kentucky.

"It's a cool opportunity," Eminence (IN) athletic director Shane Davis said. "They're a technical school east of Louisville that has about 100 more kids (264 students to 121) than us. Their superintendent and athletic director have been awesome to work with. They've really been appreciative of the opportunity to come up and play at the Eel Tank. Getting the history that's been here, the old-style gym, things like that."

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So, how did it come to be? Well, this a meeting that's been years in the making. Former principal and athletic director Brian Burelison was the first to kickstart talks with the Kentucky-based school. The idea was to set up a sister school type of scenario, but he never got around to putting them on the season's slate.

Then, last February, Davis was contacted by Eminence's (KY) superintendent, Buddy Berry, who was interested in locking in a contract. They decided on a two-year, home-and-home series with intentions of potentially continuing the matchup when the contract is finished.

"We definitely would like to keep it going," Davis said. "When we were talking in February of last year about it, we questioned whether it was going to be a one-year thing or, two years. We didn't want to push it out past four years just to see how things are going to go. We decided on a home and home."

To add to the intrigue, Davis decided to add homecoming to the day's activities, which provides the advantage of honoring both the girls' and boys' teams in one setting.

"We thought it'd be a great opportunity for us to make a big deal of it," Davis said. "Eminence vs. Eminence for homecoming. Usually, we have homecoming with the boys, but including the girls on homecoming night is an awesome opportunity for everybody. Our girls get the recognition, and our boys get the recognition as well."

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Davis and the athletics staff have received plenty of appreciation from folks surrounding both communities. He's even received some calls from alumni of Eminence, Kentucky. The hope is that the matchup draws quite the crowd.

"I've heard from a couple people we talk to outside the community," Davis said. "I've gotten a couple phone calls from Eminence Kentucky alumni that this is pretty cool and that they would like to come up and see that. Hopefully we have a good turnout. I think it's going to be a fun day here."

Once sectionals conclude, Davis has his eyes set on making next season's matchup with the Warriors even more unique. He wants to book a date for the Eels to play them in the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana, the famous gymnasium that's featured in the 1986 basketball movie Hoosiers.

The two tried to book the venue for this year's meeting but ran out of time. Even if unable to play at the Hoosier Gym next year, Davis is excited for the opportunity to make a trip down to Kentucky.

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"If we can get the Hoosier Gym, that'd be pretty awesome," Davis said. "But if not, they've got a pretty cool place down there that'd be a cool opportunity for our kids to go down and see and play in as well."

Perhaps with the recent changes to the travel rules in the IHSAA, the Eels can rope in Eminence High School of Missouri on future dates to create an Eminence Invitational of sorts. Regardless, one thing's for sure come Saturday at the Eel Tank.

It'll be a blue and red kind of night.

The girls' game is set to tip off at 3 p.m., followed by the boys' game at 4:30 p.m.

Contact reporter Devin Voss at dvoss@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @DevinVoss23.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Eminence vs. Eminence: How 2 schools created the ultimate small-town matchup