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It was moments before the Miss Basketball award winner was announced last Sunday in St. Cloud, and Cretin-Derham Hall's Arvesta Kelly Jr. wanted to be the first to congratulate Tracy Henderson.
Kelly, a finalist for the Mr. Basketball award, sat near Henderson at the banquet. Although he thought the eight-member committee would name her the winner, some doubt lingered in the back of his mind.
"I put my arm around Tracy and told her congratulations," Kelly said. "But when they said, `Kasey Morlock,' Tracy just put her head down. She wasn't surprised by it or anything. We knew that it might happen."
Henderson lost out on the award because of her attitude. That was the reason offered by the members of the Miss Basketball committee, which gave the award instead to Morlock, a Stewartville , standout who will play at North Dakota State.
Henderson, a Minneapolis Henry senior who will play for the University of Georgia, was the state's best player and has a 3.2 grade-point average to go with her collection of All-America and other honors. She can't recall getting a technical foul all season.
Yet committee members said they didn't like the way she acted on the court, which has left her befuddled.
The decision also has left some people infuriated, thinking it was too vague - an excuse to punish Henderson because she had her own style of play.
"What is attitude? I really couldn't tell you," Henderson said. "They {the committee members} don't know me as a person. As far as talking back to the referees, I do that. They give you the instructions in the center circle and they say that you can;...