[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 52 (Thursday, March 29, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E496-E497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING THE MILLBROOK HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2012

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Millbrook High 
School Girls Basketball team, on becoming the only Virginia high school 
team that has ever won three consecutive State championships in girls 
basketball.
  Earlier this month, the Millbrook Pioneers broke the 61-year-old 
Virginia High School League record by winning an unprecedented third 
state title with a victory over the Courtland Cougars. I commend the 
team for their hard work and their passion for basketball. I would like 
to extend a special thank you to Coach Debby Sanders who has led the 
team on the path to success.
  I submit the following piece from the Winchester Star on the 
Millbrook Pioneers' record-breaking victory.

                            [Mar. 12, 2012]

     Our View: Perfect Pioneers--Third Title ``Icing on the Cake''

       Richmond.--Thirty minutes before her girls basketball team 
     took the floor in search of an unprecedented third straight 
     state title Saturday night, Millbrook High Principal Carrie 
     Butler was talking about cake.
       No, Mrs. Butler was not hungry, at least not discernibly. 
     The cake she was rather nervously describing to Frederick 
     County School Board member Peggy Clark was purely figurative.
       ``I told Debby (Millbrook coach Sanders), `The cake is 
     sweet . . . with or without the icing,' '' Mrs. Butler said 
     to Mrs. Clark.
       In other words, even if the Pioneers somehow came up short 
     of their 80th consecutive victory on the Siegel Center floor, 
     this ``cake,'' baked with care and love over the last three 
     winters, would not lose its ``sweet'' taste. Win or lose, 
     what the Pioneers had accomplished up to then--a record 79 
     straight wins, two state championships--was simply amazing. 
     Or, like the famous song or hit new TV drama, 
     ``unforgettable.''

[[Page E497]]

       Nurturing principal that she is, Mrs. Butler was simply 
     erecting, through metaphor, a firebreak (or ``cakebreak''?) 
     against letdown. Courtland, the Pioneers' opponent, was also 
     entering the contest undefeated. And anything can happen in 
     sports, and often does--especially when two teams that have 
     not played each other previously collide.
       Then again, this is Millbrook we're talking about. Which is 
     another way of saying, ``No need to worry. This is old hat. 
     The situation's well under control.''
       And, indeed, it was.
       The Pioneers spotted the Cougars the first four points of 
     the game, and traded buckets on a brace of ensuing alternate 
     possessions. But then it came, as predictable as the morning 
     sun. With Courtland leading 8-4, the Pioneers ripped off one 
     of their patented runs, this time to the tune of 20-4, to 
     double the score at 24-12.
       The Cougars crept back to within eight at the half, 29-21, 
     and, after Millbrook stretched its lead to 37-23, they 
     managed to cut the margin back to single digits, at 37-28, 
     late in the third quarter. But then, as is their wont, the 
     locals ran away and hid, dosing out the game on a 10-0 spurt 
     to win 63-38.
       The contest, though intensely played, had none of the drama 
     of the Pioneers' first two state titles, against Greensville 
     County (2010) when star Courtni Green hurt an ankle, or 
     Robert E. Lee last year. So schooled, so measured and yet so 
     relentless, these girls drain drama out of on-court 
     proceedings by sheer talent and will.
       In fitting style, the team's trio of college-bound 
     standouts--Miss Green, Alisha Mobley, and Sara Mead--
     dominated the stats sheet, all hitting double figures in 
     points. As dominant as Miss Green has been over four years, 
     amassing more than 2,600 points, on this night, it was the 
     ``paint'' presence of Miss Mobley for whom the opposition had 
     absolutely no answer. She was unstoppable.
       But then, consider this: So, too, have been the Pioneers, 
     with their seven seniors and an enviable bench used adroitly 
     by Miss Sanders.
       As such, they've earned the right to revel. That previously 
     unblemished foe has been vanquished; the icing, too, has been 
     whipped. Let them eat cake. And so let us all--as we've just 
     witnessed something truly special, something worth 
     celebrating.

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