For the Juneau-Douglas High School hockey team, there’s no sense in dwelling on the eight games they’ve lost this season.
It’s much more important figuring out how they’re going to win the next seven.
Starting today, the Crimson Bears begin a three-week, seven-game stretch in both Juneau and Fairbanks.
Four of those games will be against conference opponents: Lathrop (Jan. 11-12 in Fairbanks) and North Pole (Jan. 19-20 in Juneau). The Saturday contest against the North Pole Patriots will be senior night for the Crimson Bears.
Lathrop and North Pole victories would furnish those teams higher seedings; JDHS victories will help the Crimson Bears’ seeding and confidence headed into the Mid Alaska Conference playoffs during the first week of February.
“As much as the wins are important, momentum is even more important,” JDHS head coach Luke Adams said. “We have an attitude right now where we need to get the wins now. More than just making progress, we’re looking to win games.”
Wins have eluded the red-and-black ever since their season opener with Kenai in mid-November. After that initial win, JDHS lost two games to Kenai, three to West Valley, one to Houston and two to Colony.
“We knew Colony was good and West Valley (was good) but when we went up against Houston we all thought … it was going to be an easy win and that brought our hopes up,” senior Cole Barelli said. “And then we ended up playing crap.”
A loss to the Colony Knights is something Juneau’s next opponent, Monroe Catholic, has in common with the Crimson Bears.
The Rams (7-6-1), who skate against JDHS Thursday and Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Treadwell Arena, will be a stiff test for JDHS.
Monroe, who went 2-2 in December, has two players who have already scored over 10 goals this season: No. 11 Riley Ott and No. 10 Landon Bartels. In five fewer games, JDHS as a team has tallied 22 goals.
JDHS’ current statistical leader this season is senior forward Joseph Monsef, who has three goals and five assists.
Girls crosstown basketball at TMHS
The Thunder Mountain High School girls basketball team hosts its third and fourth home games of the season Friday and Saturday.
The Falcons play Juneau-Douglas High School at 5 p.m. both nights.
Containing senior forward Cassie Dzinich will be a prerequisite for a TMHS upset. Dzinich has been the most consistent Crimson Bears scorer in the last six games, averaging 19 points per game without the luxury of taking long breathers on the bench.
Boys crosstown basketball at TMHS
The Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team is also home this weekend against the Crimson Bears. Like their counterpart in the girls team, the Falcons boys will be the underdog against the bigger and more experience Crimson Bears.
The boys team plays immediately following the girls at 7 p.m. on both nights.
“We’re struggling with how to have a fluid offense with the lineup that we’ve got out on the floor right now,” TMHS head coach John Blasco said after a 31-point loss to West Anchorage last week.
Blasco’s team defeated its next two opponents — Wrangell and Metlakatla — in the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic in Ketchikan.
However, JDHS, after its strong showing the in Capital City Classic, will pose the same challenges to the Falcons as West Anchorage did, specifically length and a penchant to throw a full-court press.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
