The Greater Trail minor hockey Bantam AA Smokies got off to a winning start at the provincials in Kelowna Sunday.
The Bantam AA trounced Cranbrook 8-1 in its first game of the tournament. Led by Ross Armour who netted two goals and two assists, the Smokies were relentless in their attack. Evan Gorman also scored twice in the victory that included goals from Blake Sidoni, Landon Gill, Aidan Browell and Matthew Alderson.
The Smokies played Williams Lake Monday but scores were unavailable at press time. They face Kelowna tonight at 7:30 p.m. with playoffs and finals going Wednesday, and the championship game at 8 p.m.
In other provincial action, the West Kootenay Bantam A Wildcats got a late goal to salvage a 3-3 tie with Vernon. With the clock winding down, the Wildcats pulled their goalie, and Trail’s Jessica Bonacci converted a pass from Kendra Waterstreet with 1:06 left on the clock to pull off the tie.
Vernon took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Waterstreet would tie it at 1:46 with an assist going to Juli Sidoni. The Cats then would jump out into a 2-1 lead on a goal from Merissa Dawson, but the Lakers would come right back to tie it 90 seconds later, and would take the lead with just over a minute to play in the period.
The Cats played Juan de Fuca Monday afternoon, and Tri-Cities and Prince George today at 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively before playoffs commence on Wednesday.
The GTMHA Pee Wee AA’s got off to a rough start suffering a 9-2 loss to the Burnaby Winter Club Sunday, however, the game was a lot closer then the score indicated as Trail fell behind 4-0 in the first period, but kept pressuring the Burnaby goal, ending with an equal number of shots.
The Greater Trail Midget AA also dropped its first match with a 7-2 setback to West Kelowna Sunday. The Midget AAs played Vancouver Monday and will finish the opening round against Williams Lake today at 11:30 a.m.