Like father, like son.
Though the stakes were higher for the boy.
Spallumcheen’s Brad Bellmann backstopped the Vernon Cowboys to a 2-1 win over Quesnel’s Northern Lights Storm in the Men’s 35+ division final of the annual Checkers Co-Ed Hockey Tournament.
The victory came a few weeks after Bellmann’s son, Caedon, played goal for the North Okanagan Knights in the B.C. Tier 4 Bantam Hockey Championship final in Golden, beating Kamloops 2-1 in the gold-medal match.
Scott Henson and Nick Amies had the goals for the Cowboys while Ty Hohmann replied for the Storm.
During the preliminary round, Amies scored three times and Al Halcro added 1+2 as the Cowboys thumped Kamloops Watch Yourself 9-3.
There were 35 teams competing in six divisions of the annual spring tournament with Vernon teams reaching three other finals.
The Vernon Rocket Stars blanked Happy Endings 2-0 in the all-Vernon Women’s Div. 2 championship (no scoresheet available from final).
The two teams played to a 3-3 draw in the preliminary round with Jane Sutton scoring twice and Karli Mazu adding a single for Happy Endings. Kelsy Trottier, Leah Willinger and Tracey Barrie replied for the Rocket Stars.
Claire Thurger scored four times while Lisa Chamberlain and Cari Doorman added singles as the Rocket Stars whipped the Vernon Sports Store Sirens 6-1 in the round-robin. Tara Swanson replied for the Sirens.
Sutton scored three times and Mazu, Nadene Keller, Kaillie Halifax and Kelsey Major added singles as Happy Endings thumped the Williams Lake Honey Jacks 6-3. Kelsey Robertson had three assists for the winners.
The Honey Jacks doubled the Sirens 6-3. Sarah Davis had two goals for the Sports Store, Annette Christian added a single.
The Merritt Centennials defeated the Vernon Mustangs 6-1 in the Men’s 45 Underage final.
Brent Friesen had three goals for the Cents while Trevor Gilbert replied for the Mustangs.
Merritt doubled the Mustangs 4-2 in the preliminary round, thanks to a pair of goals from Josh Nielsen. Gilbert and Rob Edwards replied for the Mustangs.
The Centennials thumped the Vernon Pistones 9-2. Rob Bauml and Russ Parr scored for the Pistones, who doubled the Salmon Arm Wrecks 4-2 behind two goals from Dustin Kelly and singles from Dave Higgins and Gerry Giesbrecht.
The Mustangs took care of the Wrecks 4-1 with Gilbert scoring twice and Edwards and Pete Vanderdeen also finding the back of the net.
Vernon NOS Selects whipped Calgary’s Caesar’s Angels 8-1. Dan Roy, Jack Edinger and Larry Wengberg each had two goals for NOS.
Lake Country Back Road Map Books doubled the Vernon Flyers 6-3 in the Men’s 40 Div. 2 final (no scoresheet available).
The Flyers whipped Hope OMH 10-4 in the round robin with Dallas Zupp leading the way with 3+2. Brent Magnus and Chris Martin had two goals each.
The Flyers got 1+4 from John Box and two goals each from Martin, Steve Clarke and Mike Gilman in an 11-1 romp over Calgary Forest Height Stars.
Kamloops Blazers avenged a 3-1 preliminary round loss to Kelowna with an 8-7 shootout win over the Rangers in the Men’s 40 Div. 1 final.
Patrick Foidait had the shootout winner for the Beer Blazers.
The Rangers edged the Coldstream Piranha 3-2 with Blair Fernley and Damon Johnson scoring for Coldstream.
The fish got two goals from Tim Rayner and one from Fernley in a 3-3 draw with Kamloops Valhalla Pure.
The Women’s Div. 1 final went to the Calgary Phoenix, who edged Williams Lake Interior Storm 2-1.
Both teams beat the Vernon Vixens in the round robin. The Phoenix scored a 4-1 win with Morgan Zoethout scoring for Vernon. The Storm edged the Vixens 3-1 with Kay Halverson netting the goal for Vernon.
Mandy Christensen scored twice and Derri Ann Cooper and Jen Spitzer added singles as the Vixens dumped the Ashcroft Cowgirls 4-1.
