Category Archives: Sports

Hockey, Sports

North Star College Cup results

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The North Star College Cup is a college hockey tournament that consists of 5 Division 1 hockey schools from Minnesota. Those teams are: the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Bemidji State Beavers, St. Cloud State Huskies, Minnesota State Mavericks and the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. The tournament started back in 2014.

The University of Minnesota won in the cup 2014, Bemidji State won in 2015, and St.Cloud State won last year in 2016. 2017 marks the 4th annual tournament and most likely the last.

The tournament has been taking place at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, and it has not been drawing a crowd. This year’s tournament took place Friday to Saturday, January 27th and 28th. Last year only 23,584 people combined showed up for both days, which is not a lot considering a Minnesota Wild game usually has 18,000+ in attendance per game.

This year’s teams consisted of just 4 of the original 5 teams, with Minnesota State withdrawing. The Duluth Bulldogs took home the cup this year in a 2-1 overtime win against St. Cloud State. St. Cloud State got to the championship by defeating Bemidji State 2-1, while the Bulldogs defeated the Gophers in an exciting 3-2 win. This all set up for a boring 3rd place game in which Minnesota won 4-0 over Bemidji State.

Late in the 1st period, of the championship game, St. Cloud State defenseman Will Brogen opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the right side of the left circle; off a pass from Forward Robby Jackson. The Bulldogs responded just 42 seconds into the second period, as Alex Lafallo scored by finding a loose puck in front of the net off a pass from behind the net and shooting it past the goaltender.

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image taken from: NCAA.com

Both teams had tremendous chances for the rest of the second period and for the whole 3rd period, but neither team could score another goal which sent the game to overtime. With 6 minutes into overtime Duluth defenseman Neal Pionk shot a puck from the point and it was deflected to the left side of the net where left-handed Duluth forward Kyle Osterberg shot the puck past goaltender Jeff Smith. The Minnesota-Duluth fan section erupted out of their seats as the Bulldogs had won their first North Star College Cup.

This was Duluth’s first championship appearance since they lost in a shootout 5-4 vs. Minnesota in 2014. Again, this is more than likely the last North Star College Cup because of the lack of attendance, but it will always be something the players and local hockey fans enjoyed.

Adapted Floor Hockey, Basketball, Gymnastics, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Scoreboard/Schedule, Sports, Swimming & Diving, Wrestling

Sports schedule: Feb 13-18

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Activities the Week of Feb.13-18

Monday Feb. 13:

  • Co-Ed Nordic Ski @ Como Park Grade Level Costume Meet  3:45pm (Bus 2:30/4:45pm)

Tuesday Feb. 14:

  • Girls Basketball @ Central C-Squad 4pm  JV 5:30pm Varsity @ 7pm (Bus 3:20/8:15pm)
  • Boys Basketball vs. Central @ HP 9th & JV 5:30pm  Varsity @ 7pm

Wednesday Feb. 15:

  • Co-Ed Nordic Ski State Tournament @ Biwabik (Bus7am/ Return 4pm)

Thursday, Feb. 16:

  • Co-Ed Nordic Ski State Tournament @ Biwabik (Bus7am on 2/15/4pm return)
  • Boys Basketball @ Harding 9th & JV 5:30m  Varsity @ 7pm (Bus 4/8:30pm)
  • Boys Varsity Hockey vs. Becker/Big Lake @ Highland Arena 4:20pm

Friday Feb. 17:

  • Girls Basketball vs. Harding @ HP  C-Squad 4pm  JV 5:30pm  Varsity @ 7pm

Saturday Feb. 18:

  • Boys Hockey vs. Johnson  @ Phalen Arena JV  5pm  Varsity @ 7pm
Sports

NBA All-Star Weekend 2017

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This year the NBA All-Star Weekend is set to take place in great city of New Orleans. A lot of drama, excitement, and effort has been put into this year’s All-Star Weekend. This year, the festivities will begin Friday night, February 17th, and promises to be a fun and exciting experience for both players and fans.

A lot of drama has surrounded the location of the All-Star festivities this year. The original location of the All-Star Weekend was Charlotte, North Carolina, which would have have been Charlotte’s 2nd time hosting. However, due to the implication of the HB2 bathroom bill, the NBA decided they wouldn’t have an All-Star Weekend there until the bill was repealed. The NBA decided to move the game to New Orleans, an All-Star favorite, this will be the city’s 3rd time hosting the game (the last time the city hosted was in 2014).

The NBA All-Star Weekend starts out on Friday with 2 events. The first one is the All-Star Celebrity game. This is a game played by retired NBA players, athletes from other sports, and various celebrities. The second event on Friday is the Rising Star game. This is a game played entirely by players new to the league. This year, the game features players like Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Kristaps Porzingis.

On Saturday, there are 4 events. The first event is the D-League All-Star Game. This is a game played by the best players chosen from the NBA Development League. The second event is the Slam Dunk contest. The contest features some of the league’s best dunkers, who show off their most creative and impressive slam-dunks. The third contest is a Three-Point contest. Three of the league’s best shooters are chosen to participate, and they each get 5 shots from different points around the 3-point line. The player who makes the most shots wins. The fourth event on Friday is the Skills Challenge. For this event, players have to navigate their way through an obstacle course full of dribbling, shooting, and passing.

On Sunday, there is the actual All-Star Game. All of the best players from the league are chosen and placed on two teams. The two teams play each other, and this always makes for a very exciting game

The formula used for this year’s All-Star game has been changed. This year, and most likely for years to come, the fans made up 50% of the vote and the players and media each made up 25% of the vote.

The 5 starters have been announced for the West and the East already. Headlining the front court for the West is James Harden, of the Houston Rockets. Having an amazing season so far, Harden leads the NBA in assists, averaging 11.6 per game. Then we have the two teammates Steph Curry and Kevin Durant representing the Warriors, arguably the best team in the league. In the backcourt, there are the defensive stars Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis.

In the East, making his 13th All-Star appearance is the King, Lebron James. Accompanying Lebron is his teammate Kyrie Irving at Point Guard, and the Raptors Demar Derozan, at Shooting Guard. Also on the East, making his first appearance, is Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Bulls super-star Jimmy Butler.  

This All-Star Weekend is shaping up to be a great one, so mark your calendars and get ready to watch some great basketball.  

 

Hockey, Sports

Hannah Zavoral leading in scoring for girls hockey

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This year the 2016-2017 Blades hockey team has been getting a lot of positive attention because of one of their players: Hannah Zavoral.

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The Blades is a co-op girls hockey team that brings girls from any St. Paul Public School. In the past, the team has had a hard time getting enough girls to sign up for the team. This year, the team has 24 girls and some even play for both junior varsity  and varsity teams. The coaches have rescheduled games in the past so that junior varsity and varsity don’t play on the same night.

Hannah Zavoral is a senior from Highland Park. She has played for the Blades since she was a freshman. Hannah played defense from freshman to junior year. This year she was moved to forward. Now she is leading in scoring for girls hockey in Minnesota, with 38 goals this season since January 15th. Due to her impressive skills, Hannah has been approached by collage hockey scouts.

Hannah has also had a good impact on her teammates. Helping them gain confidence in their own skills as a team will give the team a winning mindset going into next year’s season without her.

Even though The Blades had a good season, it’s unlikely they will make it to the state tournament this year, but hopefully next year the team will make an appearance.

Sports

College Football Playoffs

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The college football scene is alive and well at the end of November. With teams approaching their final games, the stage is set for another great bowl season. Coming into the third year of the College Football Playoffs, teams are waiting for the final poll to decide if they’re “in.” The final poll comes out on Sunday, December 4, and will decide the games played on Jan 1, and 2, of 2017.

The College Football Playoffs have been in place since the 2014-2015 season. The system has a specific way to choose who makes it to the playoffs. First, a committee chooses the top 25 teams. They choose these teams based on their record, their schedule, and overall talent of the team. From these 25 teams, the top four are chosen to go into the playoffs. The four teams play two semifinal games, and the winners play each other in a final championship game.   

The 7 teams in contention to win the championship this year have all had rollercoaster rides to get where they are now. The Alabama Crimson Tide are this year’s favorite to win it all. Coming off a great win against the Clemson Tigers in last year’s championship game, the Tide has kept rolling and finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record. Led by a stout defense and a more than capable quarterback in Jalen Hurts, Alabama is a sure bet to win it all as they haven’t moved from the No.1 ranking since 2015. Alabama plays No. 15 Florida this Saturday for the SEC Championship.

The next team with the most mojo coming into the College Football Playoffs is the Ohio State Buckeyes. Finishing with an 11-1 record the Buckeyes look to claim their second championship in 3 years. Led by their head coach Urban Meyer, and Senior quarterback J.T Barrett, the Buckeyes are on fire. Winning all of their games against ranked opponents, at the time of the game, the Buckeyes have a good resume with wins over #14 Oklahoma, #8 Wisconsin, #10 Nebraska, and #3 Michigan.  Ohio State is currently ranked No. 2 in the latest Playoff Poll.  

Runner up last year for the championship, the Clemson Tigers look for another shot at glory. Led by Heisman candidate Deshaun Watson the Tigers finished the regular season with a 11-1 record and are currently ranked No. 3 in the latest Playoff Poll. Clemson plays Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game this Saturday which could decide if they’re in or out of the playoffs.  

The last team currently ranked in the top 4 is the Washington Huskies. Finishing with an 11-1 record as well, the Huskies have had a magical season, but their playoff hopes might come to a close come Saturday. Washington plays Colorado on Saturday for the PAC-12 Championship. With a fairly weak schedule, Washington needs to win this game to get into the playoffs. If they don’t, three other teams might take their place.

The other three teams in contention all hail from the BIG-10. The Wisconsin Badgers, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Michigan Wolverines all are looking to sneak into the playoffs. The committee will have to make a tough choice if Clemson or Washington loses in their respected games this weekend. To increase their chances, Penn State and Wisconsin play each other in the BIG-10 Championship Game this Saturday.

This weekend will be a big weekend to decide the 2016-2017 College Football Playoffs.

Football, Sports

Highland Park falls short of a State appearance once again

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The Scots lost for the second time in a row, in the Section Finals, to Fridley, a team they had beat earlier in the season. Had the Scots beat Fridley, they would have made their first State Tournament appearance in the school’s history. The Scots came back from a 28-7 deficit, but it wasn’t enough in the end as they fell 49-40.

This season has been full of many up and downs.  Some of the highlights include beating the Fridley Tigers in the regular season at their homecoming.  The Highland Scots also got the Musket back as they beat the Central Minutemen, at Central, beating them 21-14 and ending a 6 game losing streak in the musket bowl to Central.

Next season the Scots will be facing 5A teams, unlike this year where they faced many 4A teams, so they will see much better competition then they did this year.  The Scots will also be losing key Seniors, such as team captains Will Conzet, Amitri Collins-Westlund, and Antonio Ortiz.

Key Sophomores and Juniors will need to step up in the next offseason if they want to be the first to make it to the State tournament after losing in the section finals the last couple of years.

Football, Sports

The Scots end 6 year drought and bring the Musket back to Highland

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The Highland Park Scots faced the Central Minutemen at Central for the annual Musket Bowl.  The Scots arrived at James Griffen stadium a full hour before the Minutemen made their flashy entrance 15 minutes before the game began.

The game had started with the Scots receiving the ball first and they scored quickly, but the Minutemen answered immediately the next drive making it 7-7 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Amitri Collins scored a touchdown making it 14-7 at half.

In the third quarter, Opi Aghenu, of the Minutemen, scored his second touchdown tying the game at 14-14.

In the 4th quarter the Scots drove down the field and scored another touchdown.  The Scots held on defensively for a 21-14 victory.

The Scots are heating up after their 1-3 start, winning their last 4 straight, including the Musket Bowl.  The Scots now have a chance to make history and enter the state tournament as they play Fridley once again in the section finals.

Hockey, Sports

Hockey merge

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On the night of Wednesday, October 26, Saint Paul Public Schools merged the Central and Highland hockey teams. For the past 5 years, Highland Park Hockey has been it’s own team, with Como and Central being merged together. There are mixed feelings about the merge, on one hand it brings in new, good players. However, on the other hand Central/Como were Highland’s biggest rivals.

In an interview with Charlie Dombrow, a Junior at HPHS, and #14 on the hockey team, he says “I don’t think it was necessary because they [SPPS] admitted they had enough players, just not the amount of quality players. This is the exact situation that we were in 2 years ago.” His viewpoint is interesting, and valid as well. Scots hockey has struggled for the past couple of years but showed promise last year, and looked like a good team even before the merge this year.

Gabe Nelson, a Junior at HPHS and #12 for Scots hockey, is divided on the issue. “I think it’s good for the future of the team because it’ll encourage more players to join and play. We’ll have a JV team that will develop varsity players,” he says. “But it sucks for the community this year because the Highland families worked really hard to get us where we are.” Highland just got a brand new locker room at the Schultz Arena, designed specifically for them. The locker room was made with help from the parents and community around the team, and it makes sense why they would be hesitant to share it with their ex rival.

Overall, Scots hockey could benefit from this merge. With the increase of players having the opportunity to join, and having new talent on the team, the Scots could improve. However, it just doesn’t feel right for some of the players. The rivalry with Central has been fueled for years in all sports with intense games and heartbreaking losses. Either way, I will still support Scots hockey this year.

Adapted Floor Hockey, Basketball, Gymnastics, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Sports, Swimming & Diving, Wrestling

Highland winter sports

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The fall sports season is almost up which means it’s time for our winter sports to begin. Here is an over view of all of Highland’s winter sports.

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photo taken from http://spps.schoolwires.net/Page/8479

The Boys Hockey season will begin on November 14th, 2016. If you have experience with ice skating or play outside of school, you should consider joining the team.

The Boys Swim and Dive team, the Trojans, start their season on November 28th. Last year the team broke a relay record that had been  standing since 1983. The swim team will have a sign up meeting in early to mid November if you are interested in joining the team.

The Girls Basketball team’s season starts November 14th. Go and sign up even if you aren’t the best player, give it all your effort and you will do good. It’s also a good way to meet girls who have the same interest as you.

The Boys Basketball team’s season starts on November 21st. There is open gym time for players wanting to get extra practice in after school before the season starts. All interested players are invited to attend. The dates are October 24th & 26th and November 2nd & 7th, from 5:30-7:00pm.

The Girls Hockey team, also known as The Blades, starts their season on October 31st, 2016. There are captain’s practices, which are open to all interested players on October 24th – 28th, from 4:10 – 5:10 pm at the West Side Arena.

The Nordic Ski team’s official season starts on November 14th, but their practice starts early, on November 8th. The Nordic ski team is one of the co-ed teams at Highland. For information on necessary equipment visit the team’s wiki page: Team Wiki Webpage  which can also be found on the Highland Nordic Ski page.

Highland’s Wrestling team starts their season on November 21st. Listen to the daily announcements for further information.

The Highland Gymnastics team’s season starts on November 14th. They have been conference champions every year since 2009. They had an informational and sign up meeting on October 24th, but there is still time to sign up.

Other winter sports this year include Adapted Floor Hockey, Cheerleading, Alpine Ski and Danceline. For more information on those sports, visit their page on Highland’s website: http://spps.schoolwires.net/domain/1192

If you are interested in joining any winter sport, make sure you have all forms signed and turned in, you turned in your sports fee, and you have an up to date physical on file before the first practice.

Everyone can join Highland’s winter sports teams, regardless of experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editorials/Student Voice, Football, School Life

Homecoming football spirit

A typical Homecoming week at a high school consists of a home football game and a dance. Highland Park Senior High had their Homecoming week starting on Monday, September 25th. The weekdays were the days that had themes which mostly had something to to do with your clothing. To end the week a pep fest was held during 7th hour on Friday. The after school activities were where the real fun started for Homecoming week at Highland though.

The Homecoming dance was held on Friday, September 30th in the field house. The theme this year was “A Dance in Paradise” which brought along some cool decorations. The Field House was decorated in colorful green, yellow, and red leis with green wallpaper hung up. The dance itself had about 100 students attend, which was down from last year’s attendance numbers. The DJ at the dance was the same as the Boat Dance from last school year, and did an okay job, but we felt like the people at the dance could have had more energy.

The dance seemed to be the culmination of a lack of spirit during the weekdays of Homecoming at Highland. Homecoming is an opportunity to have fun with your friends and support your school, but we didn’t feel like that’s what was happening at our school for most people.

The bright spot of Homecoming week, by far, was the football game. We felt that this was the exception because people really wanted Highland to win and we felt like that made a great atmosphere on a beautiful day.

homecomingThe Homecoming football game was on the Saturday after Homecoming week, against the St. Anthony Village Huskies. The game had a very positive start, with a rushing touchdown by Amitri Collins within the first few minutes of the game, and at half time, the Scots were ahead of the Huskies.

During half time, the dance team debuted a new dance that they had been working on to the song “Salute” by Little Mix. The HPSH band also played a moving tribute to Prince by marching and playing to the song “1999.”

After half time, the Scots continued to score more touchdowns, and by the end of the game, the Scots had brought home an impressive win with a score of 64-28. This improved Highland’s record to 2-3 on the season.

Homecoming this year was rather lackluster in many people’s opinion, including the author’s of this article. The week itself had themes that most people did not participate in, and even the Homecoming dance itself, an event that is usually looked forward to by the students, was not much of a hit at all, based on its low attendance. In the end though, the next day, during the Homecoming football game, the big win by the football team definitely raised everyone’s school spirit back up.