Morning Star Staff
The Stevenson Mechanical Bolts bounced the Bannister GM Blazers 3-1 in the North Okanagan Pee Wee Super Hockey League final Monday night at Civic Arena.
The fourth-place Bolts, coached by Brent Bond, advance to the Valley tournament this weekend in Chase.
Flawless goaltending from the Blazers’ Eric Strutinski kept the Bolts at bay until late in the first period when Jayden Veit swung around the Bolts’ net and centered for Nick Tilby, who drilled in the all-important first goal for the Blazers.
As the game’s midpoint approached, Bolt winger Shaelyn Cecchini whistled a shot on net, and Caleb James whacked the rebound at the open cage. Jared Ross robbed him of a sure goal, as he reached out with his goal stick and paddled the puck out of midair. The Bolts pressed desperately for the equalizer, firing 23 shots on net through two periods with no payoff.
Mere seconds into the third, Veit broke in alone, but Bolt netminder Teja Sheldrake made a gave-saving stop with his left pad.
With under seven minutes to play, Bradley Halvorson sent the puck deep into the Blazers’ end, and a ferocious forecheck by Chris Bond and Easton Rayner turned the puck over to Quinn Soon at the left point.
Darting into the slot, Soon took aim at the low short-side corner and fired the tying goal.
With overtime looming, Bolt pivot Sapion Joe charged the net off a draw and snapped a shot. Jordyn Morris cut across the crease, and lifted the rebound home for the winner.
With just over a minute to go, Soon intercepted the puck inside the Blazers’ line and whipped it to Morris, whose backhander found the empty net.
In Sunday’s semifinal at Priest Valley, the Bolts iced the Vernon Rebels 4-2.
Joe sparked the Bolts with an end-to-end goal, steaming down the right side like a runaway train before finishing low. Before the break, the Rebels evened the score on the power play.
Early in the third, Rayner issued a rink-wide pass to Shaelyn Cecchini on the right wing, and she rippled the mesh on the short side. Next, Ashton Pede set up Joe’s deadly one-timer for the eventual winner.
On a late powerplay, Cecchini and Joe worked the puck around to Levi Vanderdeen at the right point, and he blasted the Bolts’ fourth. The Rebels counted a last-minute goal.
The Blazers reached the final by storming Salmon Arm 6-0 with Jared Ross in net.
Aidan Rivard (2), Dawson Martian, Veit, Ethan Vrynoek-Frank and Aiden Skinner supplied the Blazer goals with Cody Beckner bagging two helpers.
In the Bantam league final, the North Okanagan Knights edged the DCT Chambers Coyotes 7-6 at Nor-Val Sports Centre and move to the Valleys in Logan Lake.
Jacob Brewer, with a deuce, Jacob Baycroft, Colton Schaper-Kotter, Landen Harison and Zach Laranjo delivered the Coyote offence.
The third-place Coyotes got to the final by defeating the Five Star Awards Cougars 5-2 Sunday at Civic.
Brewer and Chris Aldrich each produced two goals for the Coyotes, while Schaper-Kotter added a single in support of Isaac Waldemaras. Tanner Franje-Gilbert and Brady Beacom answered for the fourth-place Cougars.
The Vernon Interior Savings Just Orange swamped Salmon Arm North Broadview Plumbing & Heating 9-3 in the Bantam B final in Sicamous.
After a 5-1 loss to the Plumbers to begin the consolation round, Just Orange won four straight, outscoring their opponents 29-13.
Captain Reece Hawthorne scored on Orange’s first shot 50 seconds into the final. Hawthorne, Brogan Houston and Evan Trottier each scored twice while singles went to Seb Wenger, Michael Pusey and Dakota Becker.
Goalies Caedon Bellmann and Sam Knox were rock solid throughout the game and the playoffs.
Just Orange doubled up the Salmon Arm Senators 4-2 in Enderby to complete the round-robin Saturday with goals from Mac Gilchrist, Callum Leong, Hawthorne, and Chase Batchelor.
Stars take Midget title
The fourth-place Lumby Stars shaded the regular-season champion Vernon Authentic Trophy Black Mambas 3-2 in the Midget final Monday night at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm. Lumby is in the Valleys this weekend in Logan Lake.
Jack O’Neill put Lumby ahead at three minutes with Isaiah Wenger equalizing late in the period on a rebound after a shot by Leland Riguedell.
Darnell Hauca made it 2-1 Mambas early in the second, with assists to Layk Petersen and Liam Semeniuk. Cody Bauml replied for the Stars late in the period, assisted by Ashley Tinney.
Logan Meier beat Mamba netminder Colton Annis with a sweet shot midway through the third for the winner. Connor Fair drew the assist. The Stars’ Jacob Holland provided great stability in net under very tense pressure.
Lumby stopped the Talon Benefits Snakes 6-1 Saturday before grounding Salmon Arm 5-3 in Sunday’s semifinal.
Shale Miller netted two goals in the first period versus Salmom Arm with Reid Hackett scoring an empty-netter with 54 seconds to play. First star was Lumby goaltender Noah Foufoulas, who made several amazing saves in the third.
The Mambas got a hat trick from Wenger and gonged the Nedco Fellas 6-2 in semifinal play Sunday afternoon at Kal Tire Place.
The Mambas registered five unanswered goals in the first period with Hauca (2) and Tyler Semeniuk helping the attack in front of a stellar Corey Lehoux. Nic Poirier and Brett Lambert replied for the Fellas.
Royals win shootout
Vernon Corbetts Office Plus Royals outlasted the Vernon Seed Orchard Studs 7-6 in a B final shootout thriller.
Austin Bosquet and Adam Roemer each pocketed 2+1 for the Royals, who got singles from Adam McIvor and Jaden Steinke. Garrett Adams was solid for the win.
The first-place Revelstoke Grizzlies rallied to stop the second-place Lumby Stars 5-3 in the Atom final Monday night in Sicamous.
Coach Cole Young told his troops that all 16 players rated the hard hat for extra effort. The Stars are sponsored by Terry’s Automotive and Irly Bird Building Centr
The Stars downed Salmon Arm Save-On Storm 3-2 in overtime in a Sunday semifinal with Bryden Murray bagging a beauty for the winner, assisted by Ryder Quibell. Murray wore the hard hat after the game.
The Storm stopped the Stars 5-2 in Saturday round-robin play with Quibell taking the hard hat.
Lakers host Hurricanes
The Thompson-Okanagan Lakers host the Vancouver Island Hurricanes of Campbell River tonight (5:15, Enderby Arena) in Game 1 of a best-of-three B.C. Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoff series.
Game 2 goes Saturday, 3:15 p.m. in Enderby. A third game, if necessary, is scheduled for Sunday, 10 a.m., also in Enderby.
The Lakers finished fourth in the six-team circuit at 12-13-5, five points in front of the Hurricanes.
The Lakers have nine North Okanagan products on their roster.
Jenna Fletcher of Vernon led the Lakers with 13 goals and 27 points, while Andie Kaneda of Vernon garnered 10 goals and 24 points, third best on the team.
Ali Roine, with 11-5-16, Makenna Hoffman, with 2-8-10 and Tylee Cooper, with 4-5-9, also put up good numbers for Thompson-Okanagan.
