[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           SALUTE TO THE HIGHLAND PARK MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer my sincere 
congratulations to one of the outstanding high school basketball teams 
in Minnesota's Fourth Congressional district who have met the 
challenges of athletic competition, St. Paul's Highland Park Men's 
Basketball Team has claimed the high school championship title in Class 
AAA Division.
  Much praise and honor is to be extended to these young men and their 
coaches for their hard work and success. This team has surmounted 
obstacles that many thought would prevent them from reaching this 
achievement. Highland Park is the first public school in St. Paul to 
win a state boys basketball championship in fifty years.
  This type of healthy competition epitomized by the Minnesota High 
School League that helps young people throughout our state and nation 
develop the self confidence and teamwork skills as they focus their 
energies within an exciting sports program. Once again, I offer my 
congratulations and I wish them luck for their future basketball 
seasons.
  Mr. Speaker I would like to submit an article by the Pioneer Press on 
the victorious Highland Park Men's Basketball Team.

            [From the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Mar. 21, 1999]

               St. Paul Gets Rare Title by Public School

                           (By Mike Fermoyle)

       Highland Park compensated for a disadvantage in size with 
     speed, a tightly run offense and a relentless defense 
     Saturday night.
       The result was a 56-46 victory over Cold Spring Rocori in 
     the Class AAA final at Williams Arena and with that came the 
     first state boys basketball championship by a St. Paul public 
     school in half a century.
       Humboldt beat Mankato in 1949, the last St. Paul public 
     school to win a title. Cretin-Derham Hall, the only private 
     school in the St. Paul City Conference, won two Class AA 
     titles under the old two-class format, in 1991 and 1993.
       Highland Park (27-2) suffered its only losses in 
     consecutive games, first to De La Salle in the final at the 
     Fargo (N.D.) Shanley tournament, and then to Central in its 
     St. Paul City opener.
       ``When that happened,'' Scots coach Charles Portis said 
     Saturday, ``I thought we were headed in the wrong 
     direction.''
       Instead, his team won its last 20 games.
       Terrance Stokes, a 5-foot-9 point guard, ran the offense 
     (he had five assists), made major contributions on defense 
     and scored 14 points for Highland.
       Mark Wingo would up with 17 points, had nine rebounds, and 
     the 6-5 senior forward concluded the festivities by taking a 
     pass from Thomas Miley and dunking it in the final second.
       Sophomore Maurice Hargrow added nine points for the Scots, 
     and he, like Stokes, was a thorn in the side of the Rocori 
     offense all night, making five steals.
       ``We knew they were big,'' Stokes said of the Spartans, 
     ``but that just meant we had to play great defense.''
       Which the Scots did.
       Jason Kron of Rocori led all scorers with 21 points. But no 
     other Spartan reached double figures.
       ``We just didn't get the ball inside to our big guys the 
     way we normally do,'' Rocori coach Bob Brink said. ``It was 
     their defense. They just put so much pressure on the 
     perimeter that they took us out of our offense.''
       The Scots made their first two shots, getting a layup from 
     Wingo to open the scoring and a three pointer from Stokes on 
     their second possession.
       But it was 2\1/2\ minutes before they scored again.
       Meanwhile, the Spartans were finding the range. Kron, a 6-6 
     forward, made a 15-foot jump shot to put his team on the 
     board, and 6-8 center Mike VanNevel followed up with a 12-
     footer.
       I spent all day worrying about their height,'' Portis said, 
     ``It's not just that they're tall, it's that they're big and 
     versatile. They can all play away from the basket, and that 
     makes them really tough to guard.``
       Kron's sophomore brother, Steve Kron, added a three-pointer 
     with 4:50 remaining in the opening period to give the 
     Spartans their first at 7-5.
       It was 11-7 for Rocori when Josef Mathews reignited the 
     Scots with a three-pointer. That came with 2:28 left.
       Stokes swiped the inbounds pass and scored on a layup, and 
     suddenly Highland had its nose in front again at 12-11,
       The Highland scoring spree paused briefly, as 6-6 Jeff 
     Donnay made one of two free throws for the Spartans.
       But Miley's 15-footer from the left side of the key marked 
     the beginning of a 7-0 run for the Scots that took just 45 
     seconds.
       Hargrow scored the last five points in the run. Mathews 
     made an steal and then sent Hargrow in for a layup, and 
     Hargrow knocked down a three-point shot with 55 seconds left 
     in the quarter, increasing the Highland lead to 19-12.
       The Scots slowed things in the second quarter, trying to 
     force Rocori to spread out its zone defense. However, it was 
     Highland's man-to-man defense that dominated the period.
       After the Spartans cut the deficit to 23-18 on two free 
     throws by Ryan Mathre with 6:06 remaining in the half, the 
     Scots held then to two points the rest of the period.
       Highland wasn't lighting it up, but Stokes converted a 
     steal into a layup with 4:55 left, and he added a three-
     pointer nearly three minutes later. Miley's basket with 
     exactly one minute to go made it 20-20, and that's how the 
     half ended.
       Rocori chopped six points off the Scots' advantage while 
     Highland went scoreless through the first 3:55 of the third 
     period. Mathews made a three to end the Rocori run.
       Hargrow set up Wingo for a spectacular alley-oop dunk that 
     he turned into a three-point play with 2:48 left, but Wingo's 
     next basket was the only other one for the Scots in the 
     quarter, and they were clinging to a 38-35 lead.
       Joshua Watson scored the first points of the final quarter 
     for Highland. Stokes supplied a layup, then missed the 
     subsequent free throw, but Miley got the rebound and put it 
     back in to make it 44-35. It was one of seven rebounds for 
     the 6-8 Miley.
       ``The stat sheet says we outrebounded them (28-24),'' Brink 
     said. ``But it seemed like they got all the crucial 
     rebounds.''
       Three-pointers by Jason Kron and Steve Kron cut the margin 
     to 44-41, before Hargrow and Wingo collaborated on another 
     Wingo layup and with just over three minutes remaining.
       Two free throws by Wingo made it 48-41 with 1:32 left.

       

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