The Penticton peewee Tier 2 Vees put up a good fight, but lost its best-of-three series to Vernon in Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association playoffs.
On Feb. 19 the Vees lost 6-2 after earning a triumphant 6-5 double-overtime win in Penticton the day before. Vees manager John Kelly said it was a very close series.
“We played probably our best hockey of the year. We hadn’t beat Vernon all year,” he said. “It would have been nice to win that series, but I think Ian’s (coach Ian Fotheringham) goal was to win a game.”
Kelly said the players were upset, but added winning a game was a good accomplishment.
“Some of the kids were happy, especially after game two,” he said. “Probably the highlight of the year was beating Vernon.”
Kelly said the final game was closer than the score showed. The Vees didn’t get bounces as scoring chances were about equal.
“They are a really good team. We had to play our best to beat them,” said Kelly. “That game we played was one of our better games.”
In other playoff action, the Murray GM bantam Tier 2 Vees host Kamloops at Memorial Arena at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday. Games two will be played in Kamloops on March 4.
The midget female Vees are facing Kamloops. Game 1 is at Memorial Arena at 1 p.m. The female midget rec team is playing Kelowna at 11 a.m. The peewee rec team has a 1-0 series lead on Kelowna and plays them Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at McLaren Arena.