Three South Okanagan teams have travelled to the far reaches of the province in search of a provincial hockey title.
And all three are still in the running for a championship.
The South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA) has teams competing in the Peewee, Bantam and Midget provincial playdowns, after all three teams breezed through the SOMHA and Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA) playoffs.
The South Okanagan Peewees are taking part in provincials at the Terrace Sportsplex.
Heading into Tuesday’s second game, the Junior Coyotes had two wins and a tie.
South Okanagan opened the tournament Sunday, March 15 with a 3-3 tie against host Kitimat. Tyler Badger had two goals and Tyson Lautard added a single tally in the draw.
The Coyotes then earned their first win Monday with a 5-3 victory over Arbutus. Despite trailing 1-0 after one period, the Jr. Coyotes came back to win the game 5-3. Crae Dawson scored a hat trick, while Raistlyn Palmateer and Nathan Kaminski had a goal each.
South Okanagan beat Whitehorse 6-2 Tuesday morning to secure a spot in the playoffs. They met Quesnel later Tuesday.
The South Okanagan Bantam rep team is competing at provincials in Port Hardy, and also sported a win and a tie after two games.
South Okanagan tied Kerry Park at three in their first game Sunday. Liam Bissonnette, Brandon Della-Paolera and Seth Kriese had a goal each in the opening game.
The South Okanagan Bantams then upped their chances of winning a provincial title by beating Squamish 7-4 Monday. Cole Rezka led South Okanagan with four goals and one assist.
The Bantams improved to 2-0-1 after beating Terrace 3-2 Tuesday.
At the Midget Tier 3 championships in Dawson Creek, South Okanagan had a win and a loss entering St. Patrick’s day competition.
South Okanagan started quickly in its first game against Cranbrook Sunday, keeping their Kootenay opponent on its heels throughout the first period. Keenan Holz opened the scoring for South Okanagan at 4:15 of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Cranbrook tied the game at 11:12. The play went end to end throughout the third period with Cranbrook scoring at 12:18 to take the lead. South Okanagan pushed hard the remainder of the third period but Cranbrook was able to hold them off to get the win.
South Okanagan took on Terrace Tuesday prior to press time.
Dale Cory
Oliver Chronicle
