As has been the case so many times over the years, strange things can happen when it comes to the Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association playoffs.
More than once, top teams in the regular season have run into a hot up-and-coming crew that gives them all they can handle -- sometimes even pulling off a huge upset in the process.
All that can lead to epic championship matches, as was the case in the MJHSAA junior girls volleyball final back on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
The Cornerstone Christian School Falcons had put together a stellar regular season but ended up having to battle tooth-and-nail against Peacock Orange in the title game before emerging with their first junior girls volleyball title in school history.
“It was a ton of fun, that last game,” said Falcons coach Lee Behrns. “All year long the girls had played well and improved a ton as a team, and since we finished first, the targets were on our back. Peacock came in ready to play and it was a fun final to be a part of, that’s for sure.”
A sign of how things were going to go on the night came early -- Peacock Green upset Central Red 25-13, 18-25, 15-13 in one of the quarter-finals, while Vanier took a 25-8, 25-16 win over Central Gold to advance.
The semifinals saw Cornerstone emerge with a 25-14, 25-16 win over Peacock Green while Peacock Orange took a 25-19, 26-24 win over Vanier.
That set the stage for the gold medal game, and with two Peacock teams having played in the semifinal, all their fans stayed at the gym in Cornerstone to support their squad, turning the Falcons’ home gym into a bit of a hostile environment.
Cornerstone didn’t let it get to them, though, rolling to a 25-16 win in the first game. They looked to have things in hand in game two with a comfortable lead, but 10 straight points of a Central server completely swung momentum in the match and saw Peacock take a 25-22 win.
That set up one final game for the city title, and it was a doozy. Peacock led 10-6 at one point, but Cornerstone battled back to tie things 12-12. The Toilers regained control to get within a single point of the championship at 14-13, and that’s when Ademide Adewumi happened.
The Falcons Grade 9 reeled off three straight points -- one off an arm and out, the next off an arm and into the Peacock bench and the game-winner right on the middle of the back line.
And just like that, the Falcons had a 16-14 win in game three and their first-ever junior girls city championship.
“We just said to the girls ‘it’s do or die’ and we played safe and it worked out,” Behrns said. “It was such a great game to be part of and we’re really proud of the girls for the win.”
The victory capped off an impressive season for Cornerstone, as they lost only two of the 30 sets they’d played all season. That all bodes well for the future, too, as players move up to the senior ranks and aim to contend for a title at that level in the coming years.
“That’s been our goal, to be able to compete,” Behrns said. “We’ve been to provincials twice in senior, so these girls’ goal is to make it there and we’ve set our goals high. Even next year, we’re hoping we can be there with the 4A and 5A teams, Moose Jaw has become a hotbed of volleyball, so if we can compete with Peacock, Central and Vanier that’ll really help us develop and improve.”
The junior varsity girls playoffs also took place on Oct. 26 and saw Avonlea take a 25-13, 25-23 win over Rouleau in the championship final.
