At the Tier 4 B.C. Hockey Provincials in Golden between March 13th and 17th, the Windermere Valley Bantam Rockies competed against Langley, Kamloops, the North Okanagan, Whistler and Taylor, and returned to the Columbia Valley in fifth place in the round robin.

 

The Bantam Rockies won 7-3 against Taylor during the semi-final game on Thursday, March 17th.

 

“We placed fifth but it was a pretty tight competition,” said Jye Carder, Bantam Rockies coach. “We were actually three points out of the final — a win and a tie would’ve put us into the final.”

 

The Rockies opened the round robin portion of the tournament with a 6-6 tie against Langley on March 13th in Golden.

 

On March 14th, Kamloops won 7-0 against Windermere Valley.

 

The Rockies fell behind again when the Bantams lost 5-3 against the North Okanagan on March 15th.

 

But the Columbia Valley continued to battle, losing just 7-6 to Whistler.

 

“All of the kids actually stepped up and played hard the whole time,” said Carder, adding that he believes the team’s effort was “unreal” over the course of the season.

 

“A big part of growth in the kids took place on and off the ice, I noticed, too. As far as hanging out with the team and growing as a person. We had a lot of first year players and we saw a lot of growth that way, but nevertheless, the whole team themselves played hard every game. It was a good season.”

 

For more information about the championship, visit http://www.bchockey.net/Championships/ScheduleandScores.