Everybody likes an underdog story, and in the 1980s, the Middlebury Union High School boys basketball team could definitely be considered an underdog team. In the school's whole history, the team had only ever won one single playoff game.
So in 1983, when the Tigers suddenly found themselves in the state finals, up against the powerhouse two-time defending state champion St. Johnsbury Academy Hilltoppers, it didn't look good for Middlebury.
Mark Mooney Jr. was a senior at Middlebury during that season. He's now a filmmaker and, in a labor of love, he turned his sights on that long-ago team. His resulting documentary is called The Green Mountain Upset, which premiered at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury.
At first, Mooney just wanted to get the players on film. But he soon realized that this game was more important than he expected.
“They didn’t really make a big deal of it after they’d won it, but I know that it’s something I always remembered and always talked about to friends.”
"It was a big, big deal- not just to the folks in Middlebury. It was finding that other people from other parts of the state, other communities thought this was a big deal. I go, well, gosh, well maybe we do have something here."
Then Mooney started calling around, contacting the coach of St Johnsbury Layne Higgs, who agreed to do an interview, then Henry “Bruce” Dalrymple, who is today considered the greatest high school basketball player in Vermont history.
“The wheels started turning, and we called more and more people. Everyone remembered this vividly, whether they were from Middlebury, part of the news media, or just fans,” Mooney said.
“It was a big, big deal- not just to the folks in Middlebury. It was finding that other people from other parts of the state, other communities thought this was a big deal. I go, well, gosh, well maybe we do have something here.”
The film’s title stems from a comment made by former sports editor for the Burlington Free Press, Don Fillion: “Middlebury beating St. Johnsbury, in the 1983 boy’s basketball championship, was the greatest upset in Vermont High School sports history,” according to the film’s website.
The Green Mountain Upset features former players, coaches and community members who recall their experiences surrounding that pivotal game. Middlebury’s former senior forward, Jim Daly, is now a teacher and a basketball coach himself. In the film, Daly says that this victory is one of the things that motivates him as a coach.
"It was a big deal... It was like the Ali-Frasier fight. We were coming in there and just really out of our minds."
Mooney said that Daly “can point back to this championship as a sort of symbol—I did this, you can do it too. He wanted to share some of the same joys that he had as a student and a player.”
Another player, Robbie Hamlin, scored 42 points in the state championship for Middlebury. He and teammate Joe Calavita went on to play at the University of Vermont, and Calavita later played in Italy.
“They both believe that without that win, they both would not have received scholarships from the University of Vermont,” Mooney said.
The Middlebury team rallied around Coach Rollie White, whose “chill” approach to the team balanced the players’ strong personalities.
“He took the reins off and let them run,” Mooney said. ““The beauty about this team is that everyone had such an important role. They had no egos, so they were able to work together and play the roles that they needed to in order to achieve this great success.”
On the day of the 1983 championship in question, things weren’t looking good for Middlebury. They were facing St Johnsbury Academy, whose star player, Henry Dalrymple, was one of the top recruits in the country, being recruited by coaches from all over the country.
“You had this superb player… He basically dominated the sport for four years,” Mooney said. “This little Middlebury Union High School basketball team, who had not had any basketball success, was a total underdog."
Despite the poor odds, nearly the entire town of Middlebury was at the game—and they were getting fired up. They eagerly filled the stands at the Roy Patrick Gym at the University of Vermont to cheer on their team, which had never made it so far in the championships.
“It was a big deal… It was like the Ali-Frasier fight. We were coming in there and just really out of our minds,” he said.
Mooney, like a lot of other kids in the community, had played basketball with the team through the seventh grade. He said the community felt like part of the team, so when Middlebury won it was a huge moment for the team and the fans.
“It was a very vivid memory for many people, especially sports fans throughout the state.”
The film premiered at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury, and Mooney hopes that this documentary will develop a connection within the community—even for those too young to have experienced the game first-hand.
“Having kids seeing the movie, it’s something to look to, it’s something to aspire to, knowing that you might have a connection to it—that it’s from your town or you knew somebody—it gives you a connection, and it gives one hope.”
