Rampage fall to Terrace again, have lost three of four
For the third straight time, the Rupert Rampage couldn’t handle the surging Terrace River Kings.
The rhinos lost 7-2 in Terrace on Saturday night, wrapping up the season series between the two teams. The Rampage won the season opener, but has since lost the last three.
Terrace led the game 2-0 after the first period, but blew it wide open with four goals in the second to lead 6-2. They added a goal in the final frame to add insult to injury. For Terrace, it’s the fifth straight win after scuffling to start the year.
The Rampage sit fourth in the standings after a promising start that saw them in second place.
On Saturday night, Rupert hosts the Smithers Steelheads, which is 6-3 on the year. It’s the last home game of 2016, as the Rampage will take a break until Jan. 6.
Shames Mountain to open
The ski hill in between Terrace and Rupert was expected to open at the end of November, but the conditions on the hill weren’t right.
Instead, it will open on Dec. 10, barring any exceptional circumstances.
As of last Friday, there was about 75 centimetres of snow mid-mountain and 35 centimetres at the base, but employee Christian Theberge said they’re looking for that to be about double by opening day.
“We’re expecting to have really excellent conditions for opening,” he said. “The storms seem to be lining up the right way. It will be busy, so come early if you want to avoid lineups.”
Junior boys basketball dominates
The junior boys basketball team at Charles Hays Secondary School opened its season with a tournament in Prince George, and it couldn’t have gone much better.
How does a four-game sweep sound? That’s exactly what the Rainmakers did, defeating the Duchess Park Condors (DP) and Prince George Secondary School (PGSS) twice each.
The boys started off the year with a 66-45 win against DP. The second game was described as much more of a dogfight, but the Rainmakers pulled it out 52-48 against PGSS. The team rallied in Game 3, also versus PGSS, to overcome an early deficit and claim a 61-57 win. The boys took the final match by a much larger margin, 61-40, against DP.
Key scorers for the the Rainmakers included Kai Leighton, who scored 23 points in the first game, and Eric Lees, who put back 21 points in the second game.
Coach Kevin Sawka said Colby Stephens also showed strong leadership in the third game against PGSS. In the final game, the coach noted it was a terrific all-around shooting performance from the entire lineup, and it was also a good defensive performance.
Next on the docket is a couple of games against Terrace schools this weekend as the boys look to stay hot.
