Bob CollinsYou could probably have forgiven the Red Wing boys basketball team if they’d decided to sleep in last Friday. After all, they had a big game that night with long-time rival Northfield for the section championship, and Red Wing hasn’t won a championship in 12 years.
But the team had more important things to do. They got up to help a non-verbal special needs student ask a girl to prom, the Rochester Post Bulletin reports.
They helped eighth-grader Lucas Martin ask freshman Erica Quandt to the April 23 formal dance, lining up wearing the appropriate T-shirts and carrying roses.
She said “yes.”
It took a little doing. Eighth graders aren’t normally allowed to attend the prom, but the school district provided a special waiver.
“On the biggest day of their careers, they wanted to help somebody else,” retiring basketball coach Doug Toivonen told the paper. “I told them that they were winning in life. Sure, we wanted to win this game, but win or lose, that’s what successful people do. That’s just how special this group is.”
The squad beat Northfield for the section title and now moves on to the state tournament.
(h/t: Ann Arbor Miller)
