Congratulations to the players, coaches and fans of the Salt Fork Storm — the sports cooperative that includes Jamaica and Catlin high schools — for capturing the Class 1A boys basketball state championship.
The team ended its season with a 33-1 record, a notable achievement in its own right.
To cap the year with two well-played games in Peoria’s Carver Arena to capture a state title will ensure the memory of this season will stick around for decades to come.
A team’s method of play and demeanor on the court often reflect the personalities of its members.
Watching the team play during the state finals, the Storm played without trash talk or showboating. Instead, the team’s members went about their assignments patiently and effectively.
The long hours of practice and hard work that began so long ago — the core of the team also won a state title as eighth-graders — paid off in a spectacular way on the floor at Carver Arena.
The focus and commitment required to win a state championship in any sport stands at a level many try to reach, but fail.
The members of this team showed early in the season they were committed to a single purpose — one they reached Saturday.
That same commitment to hard work also extends into the classroom for this team. Two of its starters — Nathan Fathauer and Joel Learnard — rank first and second in their class academically.
This year’s Storm team also earns the honor of being the first Vermilion County basketball team to win a state championship. The rest of the county, regardless of their school loyalty, shares in the excitement of that accomplishment.
The members of the Salt Fork Storm proved Saturday that, indeed, nice guys can finish first.
