Stephen Searcy scored twice to help lead the Penticton Sherwood Trophies peewee Vees to a 6-1 win against Greater Trail on the weekend. Also scoring for the Vees were Owen Labadie, Brennan Nelson, Ethan O’Rourke and Kai Espenhain. Searcy was named the Barley Mill player of the game.
The Vees also picked up a win against West Kelowna, 6-5 thanks to a late surge. Scoring came from Labadie, Levi Carter, Searcy, Ryan Polvere and Ethan O’Rourke. Nicolas Eacott was named the Barley Mill player of the game.
This weekend, the Vees are hosting a 12-team tournament with Castlegar, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Kelowna, North Shore Winter Club, Salmon Arm, Quesnel, South Delta, Ridge Meadows, Mission and Kamloops. Penticton opens the tournament against Castlegar in the South Okanagan Events Centre at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, Penticton faces Misson in the Okanagan Hockey School arena at 9 a.m. then in Memorial Arena at 3:30 p.m. against Ridge Meadows. The playoff format begins Sunday at 6:30 a.m. with the championship game at 1:15 p.m. in Memorial Arena.
White Knights take second
In other Penticton Minor Hockey Association action, the Tim Horton’s novice White Knights earned a 3-2 win.
Over the Nov. 8-10 weekend, the Penticton Fire peewee rec No.3 team finished second in a 12-team tournament hosted by Aldergove. The tournament featured teams from the Lower Mainland and the U.S.
OHA has strong showing in Moncton
The Okanagan Hockey Academy lost in the semifinal in the Monctonian AAA Challenge over the weekend. OHA midget prep red coach Robert Dirk said the tournament is like the Mac’s Midget held in Calgary over Christmas. After winning two of three games in the round robin, the OHA lost 4-3 in overtime to the Cape Breton Islander, who went on to lose the final against host Moncton.
“The kids played phenomenal. They played hard, never gave up,” said Dirk, who received excellent goaltending from Brandon Wells, who stopped two penalty shots in a 1-0 win against the Kensington Wild. “It was a great tournament. We could have won the whole thing.”
Dirk said they are the first team from B.C. to play in the tournament featuring the top teams from the east. The tournament organizers were so impressed with OHA, they told Dirk they would love to have them back.
“Definitely would like to go,” said Dirk, adding they will have to wait and see if that happens. “A great experience for our players.”