The 100 Mile Midget Rep team took a trip to Creston for the four-day BC Hockey Midget Tier 4 Championship in Creston on March 16-20.
The team consisted of players from Grades 10 to 12, plus four Grade 9 players to make up the Midget Rep team,” said Kyra Hopson, manager of the team. “The team kept working hard the entire season on and off. The team raised money by doing the safe ride home, concessions at the arena, and filling sandbags to help with the costs for the provincials in Creston.”
They played their first game against the host side on St. Patrick’s Day. Creston got on the scoreboard first but Kyson Hopson answered back with an assist from Kyle Wiggins. It was back and forth from there with Creston scoring a second and Trey Wandler matching it with an assist from Colton Huber-Hopkins and Aidan Moore.
At the end of the first period, the score was 6-4 in favour of Creston, with Colby Glen and Moore scoring a goal. Terrance Hubick-Archie was also replaced in net by Ryan Chamberlain.
“The 100 Mile team went scoreless in the second period but Creston sealed the deal with less than a minute left to make the score 8-4,” said Hopson. “100 Mile kept the pressure on in the third and kept the Creston team at bay.”
Wiggins scored a goal, assisted by Tanner Hooper and Glen, making the final score 8-5.
The next game was against rival Summerland on March 18.
“From the start, the hockey gods were not on the Wranglers’ side as the first goal was scored by our own team as well as a turn over in our own end to give Summerland momentum and the lead. Chamberlain tried hard to shake it off as the Summerland team didn’t let up and peppered him with shots,” said Hopson.
The 100 Milers did not manage to get a goal in Summerland’s net until late in the third period when Levi McQueen scored with the help of Elias Moore and Ryan Allan.
The final score was 6-1 for Summerland.
Next up was the Invermere Rockies, which Hopson said had a size, age, and experience advantage over her side.
However, Hooper managed to find the map before Invermere did, with Allan getting another assist in the tournament. Hubick-Archie was in the net again for the Wranglers, making some great saves and only conceding one goal at the end of the first.
But, it wasn’t to be. Discipline troubles saw many of the 100 Mile players in the penalty box for the second and third periods. In total, they collected 54 penalty minutes against Invermere’s 17.
The Invermere Rockies walked away with an 8-1 win.
100 Mile’s last game was against Elk Valley Wild, with Chamberlain back in net.
“The Wranglers needed a win to continue on to the bronze medal game and decided to try hard to stay out of the penalty box and be more supportive of their teammates. The team came our flying playing some fast hard hitting hockey,” said Hopson.
Elk Valley scored the lonely goal of the first period. The Wranglers managed to answer back in the second period with a marker from Hooper, assisted by McQueen and Cole Allan. Elk Valley didn’t take to kindly to that, scoring two in just as many minutes. Cole Allan, a defenceman, managed to get one by the Elk Valley goalie with only 30 seconds left on the clock.
Still down 3-2 at the end of the second, the team managed to tie it up with 13 minutes of play left.
Ending in a draw, the 100 Mile team was unable to advance to the bronze medal game.
“This was one of the best games that the Midget team played. All in all the Midget rep team had a great time playing some excellent opponents and showed great team effort,” said Hopson.
The Invermere Rockies were the eventual winners of the championship, beating Creston 3-2.
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