Ronald James Newton

In 1939, a family of twelve siblings coming out of the depths of Great Depression poverty finds itself living in an abandoned town hall that once served as a basketball gymnasium in the small Colorado town of Mead. There, with basketball hoops hanging over their heads, an all-male set of triplets is born, marking the beginning of their destined journey toward leading Mead High School to basketball prominence. Growing up in the 40s and 50s, the triplets obsession with basketball is inspired and nurtured by their older siblings, schoolmates, teammates, and community members. Throughout their elementary, middle school, and early high school years, the triplets and two other brothers learn from teammates and coaches. They experience adulation and newspaper notoriety, causing their mother to constantly remind them to refrain from self-absorption and to work together. In 1956, the brothers participate in a historic event in the nations basketball history when they form and play as the starting five for Mead High. This story, told through the eyes of sixteenth-born and triplet Ronald James Newton, recounts his struggles in the classroom and on the basketball court and portrays his striving toward development of meaningful and satisfying relationships with classmates, family, and friends. The storys threads of spirituality and facing and rising above adversity are enveloped in the bonding relationships that small-town and small-school athletics provide and are crowned by Meads 57 state basketball championship victory.