THE OVERSCHEDULED TEENAGER.  In a small high school, in this instance Port Wing, Wisconsin South Shore, multi-tasking can only go so far.

In a high school located on the shore of Lake Superior, where 20 of the 42 students are girls, more than half of the female student population plays basketball. Of the 11 girls on the team, nine also happen to play in the 14-piece band.

Nothing unusual about that, especially in a small school. However, last year when the school made arrangements for a band trip to Seattle, no one thought about the girls basketball championships.

The day of the regional championship - Saturday - was also the day the band left on an Amtrak train for its Seattle trip. Band members had spent much of the school year raising $900 each through spaghetti dinners, cookie sales and silent auctions. The South Shore band joined high school bands from Ely, Minn., and International Falls, Minn., to play at a university in Seattle as well as sightsee this week before returning home over the weekend.

There were enough players to win the regional, but not enough players to dress for the sectional.  The team keeps the regional trophy.  The band members made their trip.  Everything has an opportunity cost.