Mohegan — It was the great John Lithgow who once said this: "The most exciting acting tends to happen in roles you never thought you could play."

Nothing else could possibly illustrate that better than the looks of hope and wonder on the kids' faces Monday night, out there on the state's Basketball Broadway, in roles they never thought they could play.

Because who as a high school kid ever gets to play The Big Room? Who as a high school kid gets to play on the same floor that LeBron once did? Who as a high school kid gets to play in the same arena as Springsteen and U2?

"Half the fun of playing for a state championship now," East Catholic coach Luke Reilly was saying recently, "is getting to play at Mohegan Sun."

And they got to play at Mohegan Sun on Monday in the inaugural Day Holiday Classic. The kids loved it. The coaches loved it.

Ledyard's Jonah Eddy, for example, emerged from the tunnel to the court for warmups with his cell phone, snapping pictures of everything he could. Doubtful he does that, at, you know, Putnam.

"Awesome," said Waterford senior Sean O'Connell, whose 19 points and 11 rebounds earned him the Waterford Dental Health Player of the Game. "Best court I ever played on. A lot different than the ones I usually play on."

O'Connell became the second member of his family to dunk here, too, throwing down in the first half. His brother, Ryan, punctuated the 2019 state championship win with a rim rattler as well.

"Mine was clearly better," Sean said.

Mad props and bon mots all around for sure on a unique and successful undertaking. But it begins and ends with Tom Cantone and the gang at Mohegan Sun for allowing this to happen on their property. Cantone, the casino's President of Sports and Entertainment, likes to aw-shucks his way through the adulation. But without him and his staff — notably Event Production Manager Mike Libera — this doesn't happen.

"Part of our culture's DNA is all about building relationships," Cantone said. "It's our way of giving something back to the community, especially when it involves helping the kids play in such a world class venue. Talk about a memory for life."

He's not kidding about the "world class venue" part either. Lest we take our local 10,000 seat paragon for granted, the arena at Neon Uncasville recently earned international acclaim. The kids didn't merely play Monday in the aura of Billy Joel and Michael Jordan.

Pollstar, one of the world's leading trade publications for the concert and live music industry, just rated Mohegan Sun Arena as the No. 1 indoor arena for its size in the world, No. 10 in the U.S. for all size venues and No. 11 in the entire world. Pollstar based its data on industry rankings of concert attendance and grosses.

America's Most Beloved Arena also earned the No. 1 ranking as the top casino venue in the world, beating out everything from Las Vegas to Macau.

"To have the number one entertainment program in the nation that is globally recognized as the best will be forever ranked as a major milestone in Mohegan Sun's history and a proud moment for the men and women credited who run this world class venue," Cantone said.

"We found a way this past year to reimagine ourselves during this historic time staying relevant as the only venue in America open at one point during the pandemic. Credit goes to everyone who helped reinvent the arena into a world class entertainment program some have called an entertainment dynasty over the last decade."

And the kids got to play there Monday night.

Who knew?

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro