Redskins of 1990-91 among the best ever

It's been a quarter-century since the 1990-91 St. Henry Redskins conquered their way to the boys' Division IV state basketball championship. Although the destruction they inflicted throughout their schedule has all been repaired, the memories of their high-octane offense, highlight-reel dunks and tendency to sellout almost everywhere they played, still linger.

"We had expectations of being a very good team from the time we were in the fourth and fifth grade, and winning the state title the season before certainly fueled those expectations," recalled Steve Gels, who was the Redskins' "sixth man" in 1991. "When we were young, the 1979 team was fresh off of winning a state title and we all felt we could accomplish the same thing, so honestly anything short of winning state our senior year would have been a disappointment."

Despite a late start brought on by their state championship football season, the Redskins showed no signs of rust as they sprinted from the gate with 16 straight wins. They were nearly unchallenged to that point, winning eight games over Midwest Athletic Conference foes by an average of 41 points.

"You can't really talk about our success without giving a lot of credit to our guys on the bench," Gels praised. "Typically in Coach (Fran) Guilbault's system, only six guys played every game, so even though the bench knew they likely wouldn't play unless we had a big lead, they embraced their role and worked very hard. Guys like Josh Link, Rob Beyke, Greg Bruns, Bryan Homan and Brad Beyke were all outstanding players. Heck, I think that group alone could have won the MAC. That's not to discredit the rest of the league, but we all just made one another that much better all year long."

At 16-0 and ranked number one in the state in Division IV, the Redskins locked horns with the Van Wert Cougars - a Division II Final Four team from 1990 and the only team to beat the Redskins in 27 games the year before. The Cougars were loaded with talent, but the Redskins had revenge on their agenda as they hosted a capacity crowd at home. By the time scoreboard trickled to 0:00, the outcome was evident as Van Wert fans flooded the court following their 73-71 victory, proving the Redskins were indeed human.

"We knew going in that it was likely the biggest regular-season game of the year for both teams," Gels explained. "Joe Gardner went off for about 36 points with several NBA-range three-pointers and they ended up winning. We couldn't let that loss get us down though. There were still a lot of games left to play."

Unfazed, the Redskins retained their number-one ranking and drew the season shut with wins over Marion Local, New Knoxville and Perry before preparing for the Division IV postseason with an 18-1 record, averaging 83 points per game while allowing 51.

"We felt it was good to be back in Division IV, primarily because we would play some local opponents again, like Minster and Marion Local. During the 1990 title run we were in Division III, having hit the number of boys right on the nose, and the teams we played during that run were a bit foreign to us," commented Scott Heitkamp, a senior who averaged 12 points per game.

For media and fans, it was difficult not to salivate at the prospects of the Redskins colliding with defending Division IV state champion, Columbus Wehrle, at some point on the tournament trail, but those inside Guilbault's locker room didn't dare to give it much consideration.

"I don't ever recall looking too far ahead to Wehrle," Heitkamp pointed out. "After winning districts, we knew we had to go through Holgate in the regional tournament, and those who followed St. Henry basketball remembered them playing spoiler to a very good St. Henry team in 1983. We all watched that game as kids and learned to never look too far ahead."

The Redskins skated through their first six tournament games by an average of 17 points, including a 13-point win over Holgate in the regional opener. A victory over Miller City then opened the gate for a return to St. John Arena in Columbus where St. Henry hooked up with the Kirtland Hornets. Misfortune struck on the eve of the state tournament, though, as MAC Player of the Year and first team All-Ohioan, Bob Hoying, went down with an ankle injury in practice.

"Bob is the best athlete to ever walk the halls of St. Henry High School, so his injury wasn't helpful," explained Heitkamp. "I remember we had a break during one of our practices after he got hurt, and there were some elementary boys in the hallway wanting autographs. One of them was upset and asked if we were going to lose because Bob was hurt. I still get a chuckle out of those boys being worried about us losing."

Hoying played through the pain but only accounted for six points in St. Henry's 59-43 victory over Kirtland. The win secured a place for the Redskins in championship bout against Tri-Village, who knocked off Wehrle in the semifinal. Tri-Village was ranked second in the state and held a chip on their shoulder, often venting in pregame media coverage about the hype St. Henry received, while emphasizing themselves as the only unbeaten team left in Division IV.

The Redskins held a six-point lead at halftime, but things got ugly for the Patriots in the second half when St. Henry unleashed one of the biggest blowouts in championship game history with a 71-45 triumph. Paced by 19 points from Scott Brunswick and Kevin Niekamp, as well as 11 from Heitkamp, St. Henry added the final touch to a feat no MAC team had done before or since, back-to-back state championships in boys' basketball.

"Winning that game was a huge relief in some aspects - our grade had done so much in various sports, so to not bring home the basketball title would have been very disappointing," Heitkamp commented. "To this day I feel very fortunate to have graduated with a great group friends and to go out the way we did on the basketball court."

With that, the high school basketball careers of Hoying, Niekamp, Heitkamp, Gels, Link, Brunswick, and Rob Beyke, whom many consider the best basketball senior class to ever play in the MAC, drew to a close.

"Winning that game was a complete emotional drain and such a relief," Gels remarked. "The fans and community had such high expectations, but no one put more pressure on us than we did as players. It was a good pressure, though, because it made us work hard every time we stepped onto the floor. We were sad that our careers together were over, but to accomplish a feat that we worked for since we were in elementary school was an unbelievable feeling that we will never forget."