Coach Bill Ellerbee STREAK BY SEASONS 1989: Six 1990: Thirteen 1991: Ten 1992: Eleven 1993: Eleven 1994: Eleven 1995: Eleven 1996: Fifteen 1997: Sixteen 1998: Three -- SOME STREAK FACTS . . . W - Wins Against Each Opponent MPS - Most Points Scored (All Opp.) FPA - Fewest Points Allowed (All Opp.) School W MPS FPA Central 8 105 18 King 8 104 18 Roxborough 7 100 23 Germantown 6 97 25 Parkway 6 96 28 Audenried 5 96 28 Edison 5 96 29 Franklin 5 94 29 Frankford 4 94 30 Mastbaum 4 92 30 Northeast 4 92 31 Olney 4 92 31 Washington 4 91 32 Eng. & Science 3 90 32 Franklin LC 3 90 32 Straw. Mansion 3 90 32 University City 3 90 33 Bartram 2 90 34 Bok 2 89 34 Dobbins 2 88 35 Kensington 2 88 36 Lamberton 2 87 36 Lincoln 2 87 36 Overbrook 2 87 36 Penn 2 86 36 Southern 2 86 37 West Phila. 2 86 37 Bodine 1 85 37 Fels 1 85 37 Furness 1 84 47 GAMP 1 85 42 Phila. Reg. (forf.) 1

Gratz' Impressive Winning Streak   Over the last six games in 1989 through the first three games in 1998, Simon Gratz won 107 consecutive Public League regular season games. In the '89 season, the backcourt starters were twins Mark and Steve Patterson. Here is that story (written shortly before the streak began).  By Ted Silary   Mark Patterson is one inch taller, weighs five more pounds, holds a 2-0 lead in distinguishing features and is seven minutes older.   That information comes courtesy of Steve Patterson, the other half of Simon Gratz's identical-twin guard basketball combination.   It also comes challenged; at least the last part does.   "I'm not seven minutes older. Steve is," Mark said. "He's got it backwards. I'm positive. I might look the oldest, but he is. Yeah, I'm sure. You can ask our mom."   For the record, Mark stands 5-10, weighs 145 pounds, has an inchlong scar under his right eyebrow (the result of a car accident last year) and has a discolored front tooth (the result of a wayward elbow two years ago).   Not that anyone sees his teeth that often.   "I'm the happy, smile-all-the-time guy," Steve said. "Mark's the mean, evil guy. His face always has a mad-looking expression.   "He's one of those guys who always wants his way. He likes to be on top. He thinks he knows everything, too. He likes to play father, telling everybody what to do."   Yesterday, Mark (No. 4, white socks with black stripes) and Steve (No. 3, white socks with red stripes) performed in their traditionally pesky, heady manner as the visiting Bulldogs (11-0) beat Olney (0-9), 64-49, in a Public League game.   Mark had 2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Steve, bothered by foul trouble, was limited to 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 steal. Scoring is not the seniors' thing. It's slicing and dicing their counterparts.   Though coach Bill Ellerbee originally intended to have the twins share the point-guard spot, he has found such strategy nearly impossible to implement. The Pattersons play too well together. Their cumulative effect on the team is too positive.   "They put so much heat on the ball," Ellerbee said. "It's hard to take either one of them out. The best thing we do, I feel, is play defense. They're most of the reason."   They also might as well be one.   "Only during the ballgame do I call them by their names, and that's only because they have their shirts on," Ellerbee said. "Every other time it's 'Twin.' Everybody calls them that. I grew up with three sets of twins in my neighborhood and I could never tell them apart. So with these guys, I don't even mess with trying."   All in all, Steve most seems to enjoy twinship. In fact, when it comes to names, he says he prefers "Twin" to Steve.   "It's funny when people are always asking, 'Which one are you?' " Steve said. "I usually respond to 'Mark' because I know the trouble people have. Sometimes it seems like the only person who can tell us apart is our mom (Lenor).   "One time at Gratz, Mark's girlfriend came running into my classroom hollering and cussing. I said, 'I'm not the one you're mad at.' Also, one time at home, my mom started hollering at me for chores he didn't do."   Mark's opinion of being a twin is mixed.   "It's all right," he said. "I don't like it when people are always asking me, 'Which one are you?'   Sometimes they'll come up to me and assume I'm Steve and start telling me all his business. I don't want to hear it."   Mark didn't have that problem at school until he arrived at Gratz in 10th grade. Steve had entered Gratz a year earlier.  "I used to get in trouble when I was little," Mark said. "We got separated. We went to different schools."   Mark attended Hill Elementary and Rhodes Middle School, while Steve went to Walton and Fitz-Simons.   "People didn't know I had a twin until we got together at Gratz," Steve said. "Except for the people in our neighborhood (near 30th and Huntingdon, North Philly), that is."   If possible, meanwhile, the twins agree that they'd prefer to stay together for college.   "We're close. You'll always see us together," Steve said. "We can't be apart for too long. If I go a week without seeing him (when one or the other is visiting relatives in the summertime), I miss him bad. I have to call him, just to talk."    The conversations probably begin with, "Hey, Twin . . . "   NOTES: Aaron McKie, a 6-3 junior swingman, led Gratz with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. Harry Moore, a 6-7 junior center, had 19 points, 12 boards . . . For Olney, 6-7 senior center Artis Preston had 11 points, 10 rebounds . . . Olney soph Bill Keene, a lefty, is an impressive guard prospect. He's quick, aggressive and can shoot. He nailed three three-pointers en route to 14 points.

ROTATIONS IN STREAK 1989 Starters Aaron McKie Harry Moore William "Beau" Thompson Mark Patterson Steve Patterson Key Subs Andre Griffin Mike Epps 1990 Starters Aaron McKie Harry Moore Rasheed Wallace Levan Alston Andre Griffin Key Subs Contrell Scott Calvin Wingfield George "Toot" Winns 1991 Starters Rasheed Wallace Levan Alston Andre Griffin Calvin Wingfield Contrell Scott Key Subs Wilfred Kirkaldy Shawn "Reds" Smith Jamahal Redmond 1992 Starters Corey Griffin Jamahal Redmond Rasheed Wallace Contrell Scott Shawn "Reds" Smith Key Sub Terrell Stokes 1993 Starters Rasheed Wallace Jamahal Redmond Shawn "Reds" Smith Terrell Stokes Alem Watson Key Subs Rondell Turner Lynard Stewart James "Noot" Smith 1994 Starters Lynard Stewart Shawn "Reds" Smith Terrell Stokes Brian Samuels Michael Blunt Key Subs Arthur Dorsey Anthony "Chester" Watson Ron "Bambi" Campbell 1995 Starters Terrell Stokes Brian Samuels Anthony "Chester' Watson Arthur Dorsey Dawan Boxley Key Subs Erik Hood Jarett Kearse Marvin O'Connor 1996 Starters Marvin O'Connor Jarett Kearse Tahric Gosley Perry DiVirgilio Terrance "Fats" Smith Key Subs Ron "Bambi" Campbell Shatee "Meatball" Cooks 1997 Starters Marvin O'Connor Jarett Kearse Shatee Cooks Steve Kennedy Khari McKie Key Subs Sharod Carroll Rasheem Sims 1998 Starters Khari McKee Purcell Coles Rasheem Sims Sharod Carroll Terrell Stokes Key Subs James Russell Kenyatta McKinney Shawn Sanders

This story about star sophomore Rasheed Wallace, a four-year starter during the streak
and later a long-time NBA player, was written in February 1991 . . .

By Ted Silary
  Athletes are much like sports writers. Negatives make more of a lasting impression on them than positives.
  Rasheed Wallace, the 6-10 sophomore wunderkind from Simon Gratz, has probably forgotten the first point and rebound he
earned last year as a varsity basketball player.
  But yesterday, in the waning moments of the Bulldogs' 60-51 Public North triumph at Thomas Edison, Wallace collected a
first he'll never forget - a technical foul.
  With 39 seconds left, Wallace and teammate Andre Griffin became tangled while chasing a rebound. When the ball rolled out
of bounds, referee Tom DeFelice awarded possession to Edison. More out of frustration than out of anger at the call, Wallace
gave a hard, one-handed slap to the partition behind the basket.
  Tweet! Technical foul.
  On Gratz's bench, coach Bill Ellerbee immediately snapped, "Calvin (Wingfield), go get Rasheed."
  The walk to the bench was perhaps the longest of Wallace's life. He knew what awaited him - a wicked tongue-lashing
delivered by a man with smoke pouring out of his ears.
  "Mr. Ell doesn't like us to get techs," Wallace said. "That's one of the things I have to learn to control, my temper. Even
though I know I'm not supposed to do it, when the game's tight near the end, stuff bothers me more. I get too emotional.
That comes out more than my hard play."
  Minus the blue streaks, Wallace said Ellerbee's message was rather succinct.
  "Mr. Ell said I have to learn to control my temper," Rasheed said. "He said I have a long way to go in the basketball field,
that I just can't do things like that. He said people could put a label on me that I talk to the refs, or get carried away
emotionally. That's one thing I don't need, he said."
  Wallace, who is ranked by most recruiting services among the top five sophomores in the country, garnered 14 points,
8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots against the Owls.
  Like always, he showed great athleticism for someone so tall so early (he won't turn 17 until Sept. 17). His jump-shooting
skills, especially on short turnarounds, have improved greatly since last season.
  Wallace was dissatisfied with his showing. Wilfred Kirkaldy, the 6-9 blacksmith, was back in Brooklyn tending to family
business and Wallace felt he should have done a stronger job on the boards.
  "When Will's here, we get about 10 boards apiece," Wallace said. "With him not here, the guys were looking for me to
pick up the slack. Edison was sending five guys to the boards. It felt like five-on-one. But still, I should have done a better
job. I still have to learn more about boxing out."
  Though Gratz had won its first seven league games by an average of 40 points, the Owls were not impressed. Nor
intimidated.
  Take that No. 6 national ranking (in USA Today) somewhere else. Here it means nothing.
  As point guard Dennis Caldwell (25 points) and wing sniper Mike Urqurhart (11) led the way, Edison was very much
thinking upset with 4 1/2 minutes left, with the deficit at only one point, 49-48. However, 6-6 junior Lamar Poole and
Caldwell would foul out in the next three minutes and the Owls would get no more field goals.
  "Every team we play, it's like their Super Bowl, their championship," Wallace said. "Teams come at us. It would be so
good for their school to beat us. This probably happened because we felt we could come in here and walk all over them.
The only time we can do that is when we play our butts off in the first quarter. That's when we can have fun."

This story was written in 1994 after the Bulldogs keep the streak alive with a
two-point win over Franklin Learning Center . . .

By Ted Silary
  One star missed from the right. The other missed from the left.
  Then, the buzzer droned, substitutes of the winning team burst onto the court to hug and jump all over the starters,
the coach of the losing team zipped from spot to spot to rage to anyone who would listen about what he said was a
non-call, TV cameras began capturing the various scenes and . . . and . . .
  Those with presence of mind began to think about Feb. 27, and how much fun they could have at a rematch.
  Feb. 27 is the date of the Public League basketball championship game, which will be played at the Civic Center.
  In one corner could be Simon Gratz. In the other, thanks to prearranged bracketing, could be Franklin Learning Center.
  Those two teams, which have played in the last four title games (with Gratz winning three), clashed yesterday in a
Division B-C regular-season game before 1,500 energized fans at the Community College of Philadelphia. No one
asked for his money back.
  Gratz won, 48-46, by surviving one last shot apiece from 6-4 guard Rasiheed ''Noot" Arnold and 6-7 forward
Michael Robinson, who had combined for all but six of FLC's points.
  With 17 seconds remaining, Gratz point guard Shawn "Reds" Smith went to the line for a one-and-one at the 17th
Street end of the gym. Three feet behind the baseline were FLC fans, lined up three-deep, who already had poured
out of the stands. They booed and waved as Smith shot, then rejoiced when he missed and FLC's Joe Brown grabbed
his game-high 12th rebound at 0:16 and called time.
  What would FLC do?
  "We thought they'd go for a three-pointer," Gratz center Lynard Stewart said. "They didn't want to settle for two
and overtime."
  Said Gratz coach Bill Ellerbee: "If we had decided to protect the basket, they would have raised up for a 'three.'
Actually, I thought about fouling them . . . Fleetingly."
  All five Bobcats touched the ball on the last possession. Hassan Ravenell inbounded to Brown, who passed back
to Ravenell under backcourt pressure; Ravenell passed ahead to Satu Divine, who passed ahead to Arnold beyond
midcourt on the right. Arnold dribbled toward the baseline, then released a 10-foot jumper and saw it miss long.
Robinson grabbed the rebound on the left side, stepped back 3 feet, then launched a 12-foot jumper.
  It, too, was long.
  As soon as the final rebound went to Gratz's Michael Blunt, the first question became, had Robinson been fouled
by Stewart?
  "Tell me one thing: Why didn't they call a foul there?" FLC coach Pete Merlino bellowed.
  When Robinson was asked whether he thought he'd been fouled, he shot back, ''I know I was. But I ain't mad.
We'll get another shot at them."
  When the subject was broached with Stewart, he said, "No. Uh-uh. He got that off clean. " He later added, "The
ref wasn't going to make that call at the end. If I did foul him, it wasn't very hard. Not enough to call it, anyway."
  Putting too much stock in comparative scores can be dangerous, but one might have expected a comfortable win
for Gratz.
  The Bulldogs (22-3) twice had extended powerful Rice Catholic, of Manhattan, and Rice had blitzed FLC (15-7)
by 36 points. In B-C play, Gratz generally had experienced the easier time.
  "If somebody woke those guys up at 4 in the morning and told them they played Gratz at 5, they'd be ready,"
Ellerbee said.
  Gratz played with poise and confidence while building a 21-11 lead 1:16 into the second quarter. But when Stewart
then picked up two quick fouls (he did not leave the game), FLC's spirits brightened. By halftime, the Bobcats were
ahead, 28-27, thanks to Robinson's last-second follow.
  Ellerbee went exclusively with man-to-man in the second half and put Stewart on Robinson.
  In all, Robinson shot 9-for-19 from the floor and 2-for-2 for the line for 24 points. He was 4-for-7 on "threes."
  He was so deep on the "three" he hit with 24 seconds left, drawing FLC within 48-46, he should have earned four
points.
  "I was standing at the arc," Stewart said. "He took it back to NBA distance."
  Said Ellerbee: "Lynard was with him. They were both in the stratosphere. I didn't know Mike had those kind of
'hops.' Just to be able to take that shot was amazing.
  "When it looked like he was going to be on the perimeter, I put (6-2 forward) Brian Samuels on him. Then he took
Brian inside for two baskets and I said, 'Guess we'll have to go with Lynard. ' Then he takes Lynard way out and
hits 'threes.' Can't have everything."
  Robinson said he backed up before his final attempt because he was regaining his balance after reaching to grab the
rebound.
  "If I'm squared up for my shot," he said, "90 percent of them are going to go in."
  Nearby, a listener nodded approvingly and purred, "Go 'head, Mike. "
  "My fans love me," Robinson said.
  Arnold finished with 16 points. The Bobcats not named Robinson or Arnold attempted just eight shots from the
floor, making one, a "three" by Ravenell. Gratz received double-figure scoring from Stewart (17), Samuels and Blunt
(12 apiece). Smith settled for four points, but had six assists and two steals.
  When both were little, Smith and Robinson lived near each other.
  "He's still my friend," Smith said, "but on the court you have no friends."
  With 1:49 left, Samuels, who'd taken a poor shot a half-minute earlier, made a strong move to the basket and
handed Gratz a 46-43 lead. At 1:16, Arnold tried a similar trick, but lost the ball. Stewart recovered on the floor
while calling for a that's-fast-thinking timeout.
  When play was about to resume, Greg Carr was prevented from checking in for Ravenell (four fouls) because he
had not reported to the table before the first horn. Gratz was able to waste precious time as Ravenell covered Smith
and declined to foul. Finally, Smith was fouled at 0:40 and made both ends of the one-and-one for a 48-43 lead.
  "Basically, we played a good game," Smith said. "But we could have done some things better, like a better job
against their zone. We missed some easy shots. A couple times we didn't make the extra pass." 
  In the previous four seasons, Gratz and FLC had met only once in the regular season, in '90. Gratz took both
games that season along with the title game in '91 and '93. FLC triumphed in '92.
  "It didn't matter to me whether we played them," Smith said. "They're just part of the schedule."
  The games, usually, become part of Public League lore.
  ***The teams DID meet in the final. FLC won, but later was forced to relinquish the championship for
using ineligible players. Gratz was named the champion.***

**The Streak, Game by Game**
1988-89  (6)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Parkway	82	51	Aaron McKie	25
Central	68	66	Steve Patterson	17
Roxborough	87	84	Harry Moore	24
Germantown	62	53	Aaron McKie	25
King	67	65	Aaron McKie	24
Straw. Mansion	85	57	Aaron McKie	20
	451	376
	75.2	62.7
1989-90 (13)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Penn	69	61	Aaron McKie	26
Mastbaum	73	48	Calvin Wingfield	19
University City	72	39	Harry Moore	22
Dobbins	72	45	Harry Moore	19
Franklin LC	60	45	Aaron McKie	17
Franklin	54	41	Aaron McKie	19
Edison	53	41	Aaron McKie	12
Straw. Mansion	94	34	Aaron McKie	29
Parkway	59	37	Aaron McKie	20
Central	62	48	Aaron McKie	21
Roxborough	62	42	Aaron McKie	15
Germantown	86	48	Harry Moore	12
King	80	50	Harry Moore / Rasheed Wallace	17
	896	579
	68.9	44.5
1990-91 (10)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Kensington	104	46	Contrell Scott / Wilfred Kirkaldy	20
Mastbaum	71	50	Rasheed Wallace / Levan Alston	16
Lincoln	90	47	Rasheed Wallace	22
Olney	71	48	Levan Alston	15
Northeast	78	51	Levan Alston	18
Bodine	90	41	Jamahal Redmond	15
Washington	87	38	Levan Alston	14
Edison	60	51	Rasheed Wallace	14
Central	70	54	Wilfred Kirkaldy	20
Frankford	72	36	Rasheed Wallace / Jamahal Redmond	14
	793	462
	79.3	46.2
1991-92 (11)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Washington	77	44	Rasheed Wallace	23
Olney	57	51	Contrell Scott	16
Northeast	81	40	Shawn Smith	20
Roxborough	67	33	Rasheed Wallace	17
Parkway	59	36	Contrell Scott	16
Central	71	48	Rasheed Wallace	19
Germantown	91	31	Corey Griffin	31
Frankford	71	46	Jamahal Redmond	23
Eng. & Science	79	36	Contrell Scott	25
Edison	69	36	Contrell Scott	16
King	92	41	Contrell Scott	23
	814	442
	74	40.2
1992-93 (11)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Southern	62	28	Rondell Turner	16
Bartram	96	48	Rasheed Wallace	23
Roxborough	88	36	Rondell Turner / Shawn Smith	14
Central	92	32	Rasheed Wallace	18
University City	78	44	Rondell Turner	19
Audenried	100	39	Rondell Turner	26
Overbrook	69	47	Rondell Turner	12
Bok	59	30	Rasheed Wallace	16
Parkway	78	18	Rondell Turner	18
King	90	50	Rasheed Wallace	18
West Phila.	60	47	Rasheed Wallace	22
	872	419
	79.3	38.1
1993-94 (11)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Mastbaum	76	51	Lynard Stewart	21
Roxborough	89	39	Shawn Smith	27
Central	68	44	Terrell Stokes	18
GAMP	85	42	Michael Blunt	22
Franklin	49	35	Shawn Smith	15
Audenried	83	63	Michael Blunt	17
Straw. Mansion	83	46	Lynard Stewart	24
Penn	92	40	Shawn Smith	17
King	87	51	Shawn Smith / Michael Blunt	16
Franklin LC	48	46	Lynard Stewart	17
Dobbins	76	38	Shawn Smith	26
	836	495
	76	45
1994-95 (11)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Olney	76	42	Terrell Stokes	28
Northeast	74	46	Brian Samuels	18
Audenried	105	45	Brian Samuels / Jarret Kearse	20
Franklin	64	51	Marvin O'Connor	18
Central	82	25	Marvin O'Connor	20
Frankford	58	32	Dawan Boxley / Brian Samuels	12
Germantown	37	23	Anthony Watson	12
Eng. & Science	69	64	Terrell Stokes	18
Washington	61	40	Marvin O'Connor	16
Edison	47	40	Anthony Watson	21
King	70	45	Brian Samuels	16
	743	453
	67.5	41.2
1995-96 (15)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Lamberton	86	37	Jarett Kearse	17
Overbrook	59	49	Marvin O'Connor	20
University City	66	59	Marvin O'Connor	18
Southern	71	28	Marvin O'Connor	15
Furness	70	47	Marvin O'Connor	19
West Phila.	49	45	Marvin O'Connor	15
Audenried	84	66	Marvin O'Connor	16
Parkway	47	34	Perry DiVirgilio	9
King	52	50	Marvin O'Connor	15
Phila. Regional	forf.
Franklin	64	51	Jarett Kearse	19
Bartram	49	29	William Horton	9
Roxborough	80	32	Marvin O'Connor	24
Germantown	71	29	Marvin O'Connor	16
Bok	64	45	Marvin O'Connor	17
	912	601
	65.1	49.2
1996-97  (16)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Eng. & Science	66	47	Jarett Kearse	25
Kensington	96	31	Jarett Kearse	25
Frankford	66	37	Marvin O'Connor	26
Northeast	56	18	Marvin O'Connor	30
Lincoln	90	40	Marvin O'Connor	28
Audenried	94	32	Marvin O'Connor	25
Washington	88	58	Jarett Kearse	25
Central	79	37	Marvin O'Connor	22
Franklin	71	56	Jarett Kearse	19
Germantown	56	43	Steve Kennedy	15
King	96	38	Marvin O'Connor	26
Olney	82	58	Marvin O'Connor	39
Roxborough	86	39	Marvin O'Connor	25
Parkway	83	39	Marvin O'Connor	27
Edison	90	39	Rasheem Sims / Sharod Carroll	15
Fels	97	30	Marvin O'Connor	34
	1296	642
	81	40.1
1997-98 (3)	Gratz	Opp.	Leading Scorer(s)	Points
Mastbaum	71	46	Rasheem Sims	15
Franklin LC	59	52	Purcell Coles	15
Lamberton	69	47	Khari McKie	16
	199	145
	66.3	48.3
	7812	4614	(Forfeit not counted in totals)
	73.7	43.5

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