Wyoming has its own true-life version of the classic film “Hoosiers” in the story of the 1949 boys high school basketball team from the tiny southwest coal mining town of Reliance.

The Pirates shocked the Cowboy State that year when they reached the Wyoming Class A championship game as a huge underdog. To get there, the school of 105 students in a town of 710 residents, beat powerhouse Cheyenne High School in the state semifinals. The Indians were the defending state champions and had won six of the past seven titles.

Cheyenne had around eight times more students than Reliance, based in Wyoming’s largest city with a population of around 30,000 back then. It was a true David vs. Goliath tale, just like the 1986 movie “Hoosiers,” the fictional tale of a small-town Indiana basketball team that wins a state championship despite insurmountable odds. 

Spiro Varras, now 94, played on that Reliance team and still remembers that season fondly from 76 years ago.

“It gives us great memories,” said Varras. “We had such good friendships, relationships built from that year.”