[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 6087-6088] [From the U.S. 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 [[Page 6088]] 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. ____________________