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The top-ranked junior boys team in the Okanagan lived up to its lofty status by winning its own McDonalds OKM Huskies Hardwood Classic on the weekend.
Photo Gallery (59 photos) on KelownaNowSports Facebook Page
A convincing 62-39 victory over the Salmon Arm Golds in the final on Saturday completed a sweep of the Huskies’ three games on home court. They earned a berth in the title match by defeating the Vernon Panthers 50-35 in semifinal play and opened the eight-team tournament by handling the Osoyoos Rattlers 106-27.
Ben Hitchens’ 20-point performance highlighted the Huskies’ play on offence in the final. Matty Kopp netted 14 points and Harry Bortolon added nine. Kopp led OKM with 15 points in the semifinal win over Vernon and Justin Charlton chipped in with nine points.
Four players reached double figures in the century-plus victory over Osoyoos. Bortolon’s 22 points was tops for the Huskies while Charlton contributed 18 to go along with Rylan Brownlee’s 15.
The Huskies, seeded eighth in the provincial junior rankings, will be one of the favourites to win the Central Okanagan zone title this week.
First-place finishers in the Central zone regular season, OKM were scheduled to play the Dr. Knox Falcons in a quarter-final game on Tuesday. The semifinals go on Wednesday and the championship game on Thursday at OKM starts at 6:30 p.m.
The top two teams in the zone playoffs will represent the Central Okanagan at the Valley championship tournament in Kamloops later this month. Four teams from the Okanagan will advance to the provincial championship in Langley.
Photo Gallery (59 photos) on KelownaNowSports Facebook Page
Okanagan Rockets take aim at second on home ice
Second place in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League will be on the line this weekend at the CNC when the Okanagan Rockets play host to the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs.
The Kelowna-based Rockets (23-6-0-3), coming off a sweep of the visiting Valley West Hawks on the past weekend, are two points behind the second-place Chiefs (24-5-0-3), who split their two most recent games.
A pair of game-winning goals by Max Kryski lifted the Rockets to within striking distance of the Chiefs on the weekend. He notched the winner with 6:27 remaining in a 3-1 win over Valley West on Saturday and scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season in overtime as the Rockets edged the Hawks 2-1 on Sunday at the CNC.
Ethan Trampuh added the insurance marker into an empty net in the first game while Rayman Bassi had opened the scoring with his 12th goal in 32 games.
On Sunday, Hayden Courtney staked the Rockets to a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Valley West tied it up on a goal by Trevor Isaksson late in the second.
Owen Partrick was the winning goaltender in Rockets wins.
Game start for the Rockets and Vancouver Northeast on Saturday is 3 p.m. while the two teams go at it again on Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. at the CNC.
Ringette teams converge on Kelowna for Sweetheart tournament
An expanded schedule will include 90 teams from throughout B.C. and Alberta at the 27th annual Kelowna Sweetheart Ringette Tournament beginning on Friday.
Two new divisions — U16AA and U19AA — have been added to the Sweetheart tournament that will again feature games in the U9 to U18+ divisions being held in all of the Central Okanagan Arenas.
Play begins on Friday on all fronts while the playoffs and medal matches are set for Sunday.
Participation medals will be presented to all U9 to U12 players while gold, silver and bronze will go to the top teams in the U14 to U19AA divisions.
The Ringette Night In The Okanagan festivities are scheduled for Saturday at Royal LePage Place beginning at 5:45 p.m. All players, coaches and families are welcome to take part in the fun-filled night.
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