CATHEDRAL JOINS LAFAYETTE CENTRAL CATHOLIC -- With its Class 3A victory, Indianapolis Cathedral joins Lafayette Central Catholic, the Class A victor, as the first Catholic schools to ever win an IHSAA boys basketball state championship. Catholic schools were first admitted to the IHSAA in 1942-43, but until this year none had ever won a championship. Evansville Rex Mundi (1964), Andrean (1980), Indianapolis Cathedral (1982), Hammond Noll (1988), South Bend St. Joseph's (1989 and 1993) and Brebeuf (1991) had each made it to the state finals, but came up short.

SIXTH STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR IRISH -- Indianapolis Cathedral gained its sixth IHSAA state title in the school's history this evening. The Fighting Irish had previously won football championships in 1986 (3A), 1992 (3A) and 1996 (4A); girls tennis in 1986; and volleyball (3A) last November.

CATHEDRAL'S ZACH FOX WINS TRESTER AWARD -- Indianapolis Cathedral's Zach Fox was selected by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the recipient of the Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude in Class 3A Boys Basketball. Fox is a three-year letterwinner in baseball and was a three-year starter for the Irish football team, which won the 1996 IHSAA Class 4A state championship. Academically, the National Honor Society student ranks in the top 15 percent of his senior class and plans to study engineering in college. Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner for all IHSAA tournaments, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Cathedral High School in the name of Fox.