Morning Star Staff
The Nedco Coyotes iced the Hollyburn Huskies of West Vancouver 7-5 in Sunday’s final of the Merritt Midget Rec Hockey Tournament.
Brett Jewell pulled the hat trick, Cam Sawdon earned two assists and Trey Spanier was solid in net for Ross Jewell’s crew. Aaron Kerryluke and Brandon Magnus added clutch goals.
The Coyotes went unbeaten in preliminary action, smothering Merritt 13-1 with game MVP Jeremy Pogue and Kerryluke each scoring three times and Brett Lambert and Adam Sacht twice apiece.
Jewell fired three for MVP as the Coyotes clipped Port Coquitlam 6-5, while MVP Austin Derkach supplied three helpers and Dusty Becker was stellar in net as the Coyotes stopped Ridge Meadows 6-4.
In Midget Super League action, the Stars stuffed Salmon Arm Blackburn Contracting 8-3 Saturday in Lumby.
Sponsored by Irly Bird Building Centre Lumby and R.J. Schunter Contracting, the Stars got three goals from Wyatt Warnes and singles from Cody Bauml, Jayden Pedersen, Reid Hackett, Kyle Beerstra and Calvin Tourand. Jacob Holland was bold in net.
Kirschner sparks Vipers
Kolten Kirschner beat goalie Colton Annis with 38 seconds left as the Vernon Seed Orchard Vipers shaded the Talon Benefit Winterhawks 6-5 in Midget play Sunday at Civic Arena.
Kirschner’s tally came shortly after Chris Gallant had levelled the score. The Vipers rung up four quick first-period goals from Liam Semeniuk, Jarett Campbell, Jeff Hiscoe and Gallant before the Winterhawks fought back with a bullet wrister from Darnell Hauca, assisted by Bryce Pyle, and a solo effort by Brian Ferguson.
Brennan Seltzer drove to the net and banged home the Hawks’ third goal, while Seltzer buried a rebound of a Pyle shot for the 4-4 equalizer. Rowyn Lewis-Hatherley received an outlet pass from Ferguson and netted the Hawks’ go-ahead snipe.
Lewis-Hatherley pocketed four goals and Martin Grenier pulled the hat trick as the Hawks outlasted the Kelowna Predators 12-7 in exhibition action Saturday at Civic. Nick Demetrick added 2+1.
Tage Kineshanko supplied four goals as the host Lumby Stars grounded Billy D’s Family Restaurant Xplosion 10-6 in North Okanagan Pee Wee Hockey Super League play Saturday.
The Stars, sponsored by Green Velvet Lawn and Tree Care and Kineshanko Logging Ltd., opened the scoring at 14:57 with a goal from Josh Litven, his first of two, assisted on a nifty pass from Drew Mackenzie.
Less than 30 seconds later, Kineshanko broke loose and made it 2-0 at Pat Duke Memorial Arena.
Another minute later, Tanner Franje-Gilbert put Lumby up by three. Rory Campbell, Franje-Gilbert and MacKenzie completed the Lumby offence in front of a stellar Michael Preston.
Gritty d-man Liam MacLeod fed a gorgeous pass to Kineshanko for his hat-trick, with Kineshanko netting his fourth on a beauty backhand.
Liam Reid paced Billy D’s with 2+1, while singles came from Zack Laranjo, Nick Hartwig, and Noah Clarke.
The Stevenson Mechanical Thunderbirds toppled the Winfield Bruins 8-1 in Pee Wee play.
Seven players were in on the scoring as Jacob Wettlaufer and Jaden Foster set Landen Harison up for a deuce. Wyatt Gatzke and Isaac White scored their first goals of the season. Elias Wery, Jacob Wettlaufer, Zach Manthorne and Samuel White added singles. Goalies Jordan Foster and Jared Ross shared the net.
Cougars win one in Trail
The Five Star Awards Cougars went 1-3 in the Trail Bantam Tournament while taking in the BCHL double-overtime game between the Smoke Eaters and Victoria Grizzlies.
The Cougars, who played all their games in Fruitvale and Rossland, lost 3-1 to Castlegar in their opener with goalie Reece Hawthorne earning MVP by making several huge saves.
Hustling Nick Mann pulled the hat trick and took MVP as the Cougars bowed 9-6 to the Trail Smokies, while Darius Stone delivered numerous slick passes for MVP in an 8-2 loss to the powerful Trail Warriors.
Five Star finished with a 6-4 win over the Westside Hornets with first-year player Eli Vlahos showing feisty defence, great determination and improved skating for MVP.
Highlights included forward Talon Williams getting his first and second goals of the season versus Westside and forward Kimberly Whitelaw registering her first goal of the season when she pounced on a rebound in the front of the net.
Power forwards Graham Moss and Reece Shroeder handled much of the Cougars’ offence, while d-man Alyssa Racine was rough and tumble.
In Bantam Super League play, the Corbett Office Plus Sharks stopped the host Winfield Bruins 4-1 in a first-place showdown.
Alex Laurila, Kevin Sullivan, Nick Mitchell and Reid Lawrence bagged goals for the 4-0 Sharks, who got solid goaltending from Tyler Riva and Rhys Larsen. D-men Jake Pelletier, Jonas Ramsey, Lucas Towers and Tyson Sampert were superb.
Laurila scored twice as the Sharks smothered Salmon Arm North Broadview Plumbing Wheelers 7-2 Saturday in Sicamous.
Sullivan, Riley Bos, Pelletier, Callum Leong and Mitchell completed the Sharks’ offence. The line of Bos, Brandon Lehoux and Leong applied a relentless forecheck.
In other Bantam play, the Interior Savings Lions netted five unanswered third-period goals to ground the DCT Chambers Marauders 9-5 Saturday at Priest Valley Arena.
Keefer Kaempf led the winners with 2+2, including the winner at 4:42 of the third which snapped a 5-5 tie. Tyler Semenuik had 2+1 while Hayden Vardon, Kaiden Parton, Brendan Horsfield, Ryan Jakes and Jaden Steinke also scored for the 2-2 Lions.
Finn O’Keefe scored twice for the Marauders, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit with three straight goals, including shorthanded markers six seconds apart from Landon Currie and Sam Frisby.
Currie finished with 1+2 while Tavyn Best had the other goal for the 2-1 Marauders.
Atom Lakers girls go hard
The Vernon Summit Financial Atom Lakers girls went hard in an 8-2 loss to the M&K Ready-Mix Rockets Saturday afternoon.
Emma Roine earned the Lakers’ gold jersey for her hard work and effort. Mackenzie Miller provided solid defence, while Shelby Richard had a goal with an assist from Bailey Alexis. Josey Nerling scored a late goal.
The Lakers travelled to Sicamous Sunday morning with only 10 players and lost 15-0 with Paige Brayshaw donning the gold jersey for her season debut in net.
She made some great saves on a team full of cleverly disguised Mack trucks.Vanessa Kerr has a good defensive game while Camryn Beacom and Kristi Vassberg worked hard up ice.
