Morning Star Staff
The Whitehorse Mustangs left Vernon with some gold after icing the Fix Auto Vipers 4-2 in Sunday’s final of the Bantam Tier 3 Invitational Hockey Tournament at Civic Arena.
Damian Glover went coast to coast for Vernon’s first snipe, while Jaxxon Collard provided a carbon-copy move 10 minutes later, giving the Vipers the 2-0 lead.
Whitehorse found their groove at the ice clean and sealed things with an empty netter. Teja Sheldrake went the distance in the Vernon net.
The Vipers grounded the South Okanagan Devils 4-2 in the early Sunday morning semifinal.
D-man Trevor Moore wired a point shot for the first goal, assists going to Chris Bond and Owen Palfreyman.
The Devils levelled the score and went ahead after the ice clean but the Vipers regrouped and equalized when Locklan O’Keefe buried a sweet feed by Ronac Chauhan.
Cody Beckner banked in a rebound off a fray in front, assists going to Chauhan and Jacob Green. Glover pocketed an empty netter on a pass from Green. Kassidy Schaper-Kotter earned the win.
Vernon made the semis after upending the Merritt Centennials 8-1 Saturday afternoon.
After battling illness for most of last week, the Watkin Motors Mustangs won a pair of Okanagan Mainline Pee Wee Tier 2 Hockey League games.
The Mustangs welcomed six regulars back from a variety of ailments in a 7-6 loss to the Kelowna Rockets Friday night.
The line of Bennett Kuhnlein (2+1), JJ Milne (1+2) and Erik Pastro (1G) led the Mustangs offensively with singles coming from Deagan McMillan and Kyle Wheeler. Austin Seibel took the loss.
On Saturday, the Mustangs held off a late charge from the Penticton Vees to secure a 4-3 win.
Jarred Feist (1+3), Austin Roest (1+2), Bennett Kuhnlein (1G) and Milne (1G) paced the Vernon attack with Seibel solid in going the distance.
The Watkin Motors crew ambushed the host Kamloops Blazers 9-4 Sunday with Feist supplying 3+2 and Roest 2+2.
McMillan (2), Kuhnlein and Nick Noren also tallied in front of a stellar Matthew Kuhnlein.
The visiting Vernon Sun Valley Source for Sports Vipers lost 4-2 to the Kamloops Blazers Sunday afternoon at the Memorial Arena.
The Vipers opened up a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Steel Quiring and Trevor Kennedy with K.T. Walters and Colby Feist picking up assists.
Kamloops cut the lead in half just before the end of the first period and then converted on the powerplay. Kobe Grant had a strong outing in goal, while Cam Moger and Walters competed hard all game.
The Salmon Arm Co-op Silvertips Female Midget team saved one of their best efforts for the last game of their invitational tournament in Sicamous.
Abbotsford needed an empty-net goal to secure a 4-2 win over the Tips.
Salmon Arm MVP was forward Tareyn Hanson, with special acknowledgement to Ava Wutke and to the hard-working Taylor Thomlinson in net. The Silvertips were shut out in their previous three games.
Salmon Arm fell 3-0 to Abbotsford with Chelsea Marshall earning MVP, and honourable mentions to defenceman Makenna Howe and goalie Jordan Brunette.
North Island recorded a 5-0 victory over the hosts (Carly Southam MVP, Cassidy Marshall and Thomlinson drawing praise), who then fell 4-0 to Strathcona with Brunette making 41 saves. Haylee Gosselin was Salmon Arm MVP while Makenna Southam also had a marvellous showing.
The H&L Glass Vipers split their weekend Atom Development games, falling 15-4 to Kelowna before stopping West Kelowna 5-2.
Maguire Nicholson pulled the hat trick, while Tylan Hutton added a single.
Nicholson counted 2+2 in the win, singles going to Kai Maleniza, Mark Johnson and Dominic Meyer.
Vernon’s Coleton Bilodeau recorded his 14th goal of the season as the Okanagan Rockets rattled the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds 4-1 in B.C. Major Midget Hockey League play Sunday in Abbotsford.
Bilodeau, a Viper affiliate whose Western League rights belong to the Moose Jaw Warriors, has 35 points for the 16-4-0-2 Rockets.
He is four points back of points parade leader Liam Kindree of Vancouver NW Giants. The Cariboo Cougars share top spot with Okanagan at 19-2-1-0.
Former Viper goalie Cole Demers has re-joined the Rockets, where he was an all-star last year.
Max Kryski, with 1+2, Garret Watson and Rayman Bassi also scored for the Rockets. Jonathan Rees replied for the T-Birds (11-7-3-1). The Rockets lost 2-1 to the T-Birds Saturday with Brandon Della Paolera scoring.