They didn’t pick up any points over the weekend, but the Castlegar Rebels are still heading to the KIJHL playoffs.
Castlegar will open the postseason this week in Beaver Valley.
The first two games will be Friday and Saturday in Fruitvale. Games three and four will be Monday and Tuesday in Castlegar, starting at 7 p.m. both nights.
The Rebels (14-29-0-6) earned their berth by virtue of Grand Forks’ 11-2 loss to Fernie on Friday. The Rebels finished three points ahead of the Border Bruins in the Neil Murdoch Division standings.
On Friday, Castlegar lost 4-1 at home to Beaver Valley.
After a scoreless first period, the Nitehawks moved ahead 3-0 in the second. Keaghan Holub stemmed the bleeding a little with a late goal, but the Nitehawks added another insurance marker in the third.
Dawson Rattai made 31 saves for the Rebels, who were outshot 35-27.
On Saturday, Castlegar lost 6-4 at home to Creston Valley to close out the regular season.
The Rebels jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period on a pair of goals from Griffen Ryden — one shorthanded, another on the power play.
Creston Valley scored three unanswered goals in the second to take the lead. Justin Duguay then tied it 3-3, and Josh Wiens scored to make it 4-3 Castlegar at the end of two.
Creston scored three more unanswered goals in the third, two of them on the power play, to earn the victory.
Mason Hartman had two assists for Castlegar while Ethan Lawczynski made 30 saves in net. Shots were 36-27 for Creston.
Wiens finshed as Castlegar’s regular season scoring leader with 10 goals and 29 assists in 42 games while Ryden led the team in goals with 19 in 45 games.
