The Vipers pressed with their new forecheck and stunned Kelowna with their tenacity, keeping the game scoreless at the ice clean. Kobe Grant fended off numerous shots.

The Vipers kept their splendid play going Sunday and bounced the Kamloops Blazers 6-2 at Brocklehurst Arena.

Trevor Kennedy, from Ben King, jumpstarted the Watkin Motors’ scoring, followed by King, Gavin Fleck and Lachlan O’Keefe each with solo goals. Rowan Miller slammed home a King feed and then King slid one in from Tanner Brown.

The Nixon Wenger Vipers came second during round-robin play at the Castlegar Tier 3 Pee Wee Tournament, but bowed 6-1 to South Okanagan in Sunday’s semifinal.

Tanner Wright put Vernon in front before South Okanagan tied it up. South Okanagan took advantage of some early Viper penalty trouble and notched two goals within a minute. Goaltender Tanner Witt kept it close with several great saves.

The Vipers brushed back the West Kelowna Warriors 5-1 Saturday night in what was probably the best team effort of the year.

Cole Johnson (2), Nick Teale, Evan Trottier and Wright handled the offence, while Ben Imrich chipped in with two assists. Jacob Green took the MVP.

The Vipers fell 6-4 to South Okanagan Saturday morning, going down 4-0 at the ice clean. Johnson (2), speedy d-man Kael Black and Wright earned goals, while Evan Trottier collected the MVP.

The AMS Solutions North Okanagan Knights smothered Winfield 7-0 and ambushed Revelstoke Grizzlies 10-2 to finish Tier 4 Pee Wee league action.

Kord Haller pulled the hat trick against Winfield, Wesley Graves pocketing a pair and singles going to Griffin Evans and Brandon Matvenko. Thomas Burton recorded the shutout.

Matvenko registered four snipes versus Revelstoke with Eli Dwyer, Bryan Brew and Michael Kormany each ringing up a deuce in front of Caedon Bellman.

Valley Wood falls 5-4 in K-Town final

The Valley Wood Vipers lost 5-4 to the Kamloops Blazers #2 in Sunday’s final of the K-Town Atom A tournament in Kelowna.

Kamloops struck first in close after a couple of attempts. Jakob Jones then turned on the jets, passing the Kamloops defence and burying a rocket to tie things.

Down a goal in the second, Connor Elliot went end-to-end and netted the equalizer before putting Vernon up one from the point. Kelowna went ahead by one before Steel Quiring converted, from Porter Trevelyan. on the powerplay, making it 4-4.

Quiring took game MVP, while the Heart & Hustle award winner was Bennett Kuhnlien.

The Vipers shut down the West Kelowna Warriors 5-0 Saturday morning, getting snipes from Palfreyman (2), Jacob Boden (2) and Elliot. Gritty Issac Thomas earned the Heart & Hustle while net detective Cayden Hamming collected

Later Saturday, goalie Owen Swiskoski was sensational in a 4-1 Valley Wood win over Kelowna #1.

Zachary Funk opened the scoring from Thomas’ blast from the point. Thomas and game MVP Trevelyan added a goal each, on assists from Quiring. Trevelyan netted the fourth goal after a shot by Palfreyman. Elliot took the Heart & Hustle.

H&L Glass take Atom C crown

It was a golden weekend for the H&L Glass Vipers, as they claimed the Atom C crown at the K-Town Showdown with a gutsy 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Thunderbirds.

The Vipers worked especially hard on coach Brent Bond’s birthday, outshooting Vancouver in each period. Maddex Minard’s feverish forechecking forced a Vancouver defender to play the puck into his own net, while the goalkeeper was distracted by Jordyn Morris’s net presence. With 20 seconds left in the period, however, Vancouver tied it.

Eight minutes into the middle frame, Vernon’s snake-bit powerplay went back to work and finally clicked. Nick Noren slipped a check behind the net, and put the puck on a platter for Minard, who drilled in his second.

Again, Vancouver wasted little time levelling the score. Two minutes later, Chris Bond won an offensive zone faceoff back to Morris, who teed up Liam Remple at the left point. Remple blasted his cannon on net, and the rebound found MVP Chris Bond, who buried the golden goal.

Showing their championship heart, the Junior Vipers made the lead stand up through two penalty kills and some anxious moments in the third. In the latter stages, Teja Sheldrake came up with a pair of game-savers, flashing his trapper and left pad to silence the Thunderbirds.

D-partners Quinn Soon and Brock Holliday played the shutdown role to perfection, allowing no goals in the final three games of the tourney.

In the opener at Rutland Arena, Vernon took down the host Kelowna Rockets, 4-1. Trailing 1-0 late in the first, Vernon goalie Jaret Cooper bailed out his team with an unbelievable right pad save.

Perfect the rest of the way, Cooper bought some time as the Vipers found their scoring touch. Eight minutes into the second, Cash Anderson finally put one in the bank, roofing a relay from Emma Elders and Noren. It was all Vernon in the third. Flying down the left wing, Elders fired the winner past the goalie’s ear. Game MVP Anderson then turned a 1-on-4 shorthanded play into a goal. Next, rushing defenceman Liam Remple split the dee and scored on a dizzying deke.

Teja Sheldrake shut out Salmon Arm 3-0, twice stopping the Silverbacks in cold to keep it scoreless. Stalwart d-man Adam Bourgeois snuffed out scoring chances, blocking shots and passes with his active stick and body. Morris put Vernon on the board, punching home a Minard rebound.