The Penticton Peerless midget Vees only lost once in their tournament at Memorial Arena last weekend.
Unfortunately for them, it came in the tournament finale, 5-1 to the Vernon Vipers. Vees coach Dave Coombes said the Vipers have a strong team that works hard.
"They don't give up on anything, which was a really good lesson for our team," said Coombes. "We actually outshot them 33-28, their goalie played outstanding. They took advantage of their chances."
The Vipers also capitalized on the power-play twice, while the Vees were unable to.
"It was just a high intensity, fast game. Lots of emotion," said Coombes, whose team went 3-1-1. "Playing in five games and having the success that we did, I think it was a very good weekend."
The Vees' lone scorer was Linden Gove. What Coombes takes from the tournament is the learning process and his players being able to be OK with failing. He said it's about effort.
"They know the effort now it takes to compete," he said. "There is always going to be little things that we are going to work on."
The Vees tank also hit empty with eight forwards and four defence man playing.
"Guys worked hard but ran out of gas. They were still positive even though they were bummed about losing," said Coombes.
The Vees opened the weekend with a 2-2 draw against Coquitlam on Oct. 2. They then defeated Kelowna 3-1 Chilliwack 6-1. They defeated Port Moody in Sunday's semifinal to advance to the championship game.
In other Penticton Minor Hockey Association action from that weekend, the Speedway atom development Vees kicked off league play with a 4-3 win against the Kelowna Female peewee team.