The Northern Connector
Friday, March 7, 2014
Inside
SPORTS
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Former Kitimatian proves strongly in net Contributed
THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
KITIMAT - A Kitimat goalie made an impact at a league weekend with some notable plays. The Northland Dodge Northern Female Midget AAA Cougars completed a successful league weekend in Burnaby in January. The 10 game league weekend saw all six teams from the BCFMAAA in action at Burnaby 8 rinks and was hosted by the West Coast Avalanche Team. The Northland Cougars won three games and lost one, taking six of a possible eight points. They gained ground in the standings and are now in second place in the league. On January 10 they beat the Vancouver Island Hurricanes 2-0. The game was largely dominated by the Cougars however they couldn’t find the back of the net until six minute left in the game when Taylor Beck made a terrific forecheck turned into a goal while shorthanded. Madison Fjellstrom added an empty netter late in the game. Kelsey Roberts, of Kitimat, turned in a solid goaltending effort in getting the shutout. Taylor was the obvious choice by the players as team game star. On January 11 the Cougars played the Kootenay Wildcats. Once again the Cougars carried most of the play early but couldn’t score, however Kootenay capitalized on Cougar miscues and a power play and built up a 3-0 lead into the third period.
The Cougars dug deep and responded with 13 minutes left in the game with a 4 goal barrage with the winner coming with 2 minutes left. Tessa Hare and Madison Fjellstrom each scored two goals in the team’s monumental comeback, with Tessa getting the team star. Avery Quiring and Kelsey Roberts shared the solid goaltending duties. Saturday evening the Cougars took on the improving Thompson/Okanagan Rockets. This game had all the makings of a nailbiter however the Cougars opened the scoring in the 1st period and kept them coming, ending in a 4-0 victory. Roberts put in a superb goaltending effort for her second shutout of the weekend. Goal scorers were Hunter Mosher, Lauren SmahaMuir, Tessa Hare and Ava Keis with Lauren getting the team game star award. The last game was played against the forminable Fraser Valley Phantom on January 12. The Phantom recently won the Notre Dame Tournament in Saskatchewan and lost the Mac’s tournament in sudden death in the final game. The Phantom jumped out to an early lead in the first period and added another later in the period. The Cougars halfway through the third period with Ava Keis getting a power play goal. However the Phantom responded and came away with a 3-1 win. Avery Quiring put in a solid effort facing the hard shooting, talented Phantom team.
CONTRIBUTED / THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
Kelsey Roberts of Kitimat in goal. Roberts is credited with some sharp goaltending in Burnaby.
Skeena Grade 9’s place third overall in NW zone Contributed
THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
CONTRIBUTED / THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
The Senior Boys Rainmakers celebrate their zones victory.
Senior Rainmakers win zones By Shaun Thomas
THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
PRINCE RUPERT - The Charles Hays Senior Boys basketball team are the best in the northwest in 2014 and will be competing in provincials next week. The boys travelled to Smithers last weekend to play Caledonia Secondary and the host Gryphons for the tourney. The Rainmakers opened the title on Friday afternoon with a 67-50 win over host
team. Leading the way was Justin McChesney with 21 points, followed by Rosendo Masocol and Garrett Kobza with 14 points apiece. In their second game, Charles Hays trailed Caledonia by 16 at the half, but stifling defence kept the Terrace team to a single basket on 13 attempts in the fourth quarter enroute to a 55-48 final. Terrace then eliminated Smithers from the competition, meaning another win over Caledonia would clinch the title.
In their second meeting of the tournament, the Rainmakers fell 53-43, setting up a winner-take-all championship game. In that game, the Rainmakers took the banner with a 51-41 victory that saw Masocol net 14 points and Perry Terrell scoring 12. “I think we were very good defensively,” said coach Mel Bishop, who has high hopes for provincials. “If we play hard and play our game, we should be competitive.”
TERRACE - Skeena Middle School’s junior girls’ basketball team finished the 2013/2014 season third out of seven – no small accomplishment for the only team comprised solely of Grade 9’s. The six other northwest zone schools saw both Grade 9’s and Grade 10’s suit up, but Skeena stayed competitive with their 10 dedicated younger players. The team won nine out of 11 games throughout the regular season to head into zone playoffs ranked third. They tipped off against
Smithers Secondary School Feb. 14 in game one of zones in Smithers, with coach Toni Nisyok telling the girls this was the game they needed to win if they wanted to place in the top three. The team didn’t disappoint, winning 25-18 – Brittany Peden was the high scorer with eight points, and coming off the bench Anja Hanington netted five points. Marrick Zips and Emma Kenmuir helped out the win dropping four points each. Shivohn Peters and Jamie Gosnell saw two points each for Skeena. The total team effort saw help from both ends of the court – Briana Greer and
Ashley Nisyok caused many turnovers for Smithers. Next up, Skeena went up against the second ranked team, Charles Hays Secondary, knowing it was going to be a tough game. “Charles Hays had 15 players and we knew they would run us,” said coach Toni Nisyok. “The girls played their best but we just couldn’t hit our shots.” The loss meant they would play for third or fourth place against Houston. The team came out running to win the game 29-14 to take third. “This was a game the girls wanted, and they performed awesome,” she said.
Terrace teams ready for provincials TERRACE - The Terrace Midget Rep Kermodes are on their way to Midget Tier 3 provincials after two decisive wins against Prince Rupert in the best-of-three northwest zone final. Their first game on Saturday, Feb. 22 saw them pull out all of the stops offensively to win 9-1.
And the onslaught didn’t let up later that day – with a 10-2 win at home, they are officially zone champs. They’ll now head to 100 Mile House over spring break to compete against some of the best in the province – and coach Dave Jephson says he is expecting big things from the team.
And the Bantam Midget Rep Kermodes are also heading to Tier 3 provincials in Kelowna after beating Smithers Storm in that bestof-three series. Terrace took game one 9-8, but Smithers forced game three winning 5-4 in OT in game two. Terrace took the final 9-1 to qualify for provincials.