Opinion Corner: Season to remember for Jays

Talk about it

There have been a lot of nay-saying Negative Nancy’s, Debbie Downers and Pessimistic Pete’s — I don’t know if that last example is an actual phrase, but if not I’m coining it.

Fortunately for Jamestown, none of the aforementioned examples were suiting up last weekend in Grand Forks.

All season long, the Jamestown High School girls’ hockey team has been battling adversity — illness, injuries and a year-long battle with numbers — but on Saturday, at the Ralph Engelstad Olympic Arena, the Blue Jays showed they can overcome all that.

The Jamestown girls not only produced their best-ever regular-season record, but they topped it all off with their first two wins at the state tournament and took home their first-ever trophy to boot.

Let me remind you, they accomplished all this with a dozen or so girls.

A dozen.

There are golf teams around the state that have bigger rosters, but these girls not only played with these numbers, but they hung with the defending champs and knocked off two of the best teams in the state.

There may have been four teams that placed higher than them, but they proved they’re second to none when it comes to heart.

It truly was David vs. Goliath or a second-coming of Rudy, except these girls may have actually been carried off the ice if coach Brad Schaack were a few years younger and had a few extra arms to spare.

Nonetheless, these girls proved a lot of people wrong.

In an era when NFL running backs are removing themselves from the lineup because of a cold — blame it on the Madden curse if you want to Peyton Hillis, but why don’t you take a chapter from senior Morgan Geigle’s book.

Geigle suffered a cheap hit from behind earlier in the year, broke her clavicle and separated her shoulder. What would likely end most people’s season, the strong-hearted senior didn’t miss a shift at the state tournament.

Carissa Finck, who in my mind got slighted by not being named to the all-West Region team, was the busiest goalie in at the state tournament — facing over 20 shots more than any other goalie. But not only was she put to work, she finished with a .935 save percentage — third-best of anyone at the tournament.

The girls’ performance created a buzz up in Grand Forks, and we can only hope it creates an even bigger buzz here in Jamestown.

I’m not calling for a ticker-tape parade, though I’m not disputing that idea either, but think about what these girls were able to accomplish with sheer heart, determination and character.

It’s refreshing as a sports writer to see a few underdog teams achieve some well-deserved success.

The funny thing is, though they may have entered the tournament as underdogs, not a single one of those girls didn’t believe they could beat anyone they matched up against, and then they went out and proved it.

Sun sports writer David Griswold can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by e-mail at dgriswold@jamestownsun.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/DGriswoldSun

Tags: sports, jays