The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - March 18, 2008
BANTAM FLYERS TAKE BANNER
The Princeton Overwaitea Bantam Flyers have had a banner year this year ending the season on Saturday March 1 winning the South Central Super League.
The team had a record 17 wins and 1 loss in league play, 25 and 4 with tournament play, this put the Flyers in number 1 spot of a ten team league, with Summerland not far behind with only four losses.
Princeton's first playoff game was scheduled for February 3 against Penticton 1, this was an easy win for the players and goalie Drayden Larsen once again looked like he had been playing net for a number of years. Bradley Palumbo, brought up from Pee Wees, was also an asset to the team.
The following weekend the Flyers traveled to Merritt for their second playoff game. With Drayden unable to make the game Ian McKenzie strapped on the goalie gear, and Bradley once again helped fill the roster. Once again Princeton dominated the play and secured their spot in the finals. Bradley scored his first goal as a Bantam and Ian earned a win for his first time in net.
After a weekend off the Flyers met the Summerland Jets on February 24 in Princeton for the first of best of three. When the puck dropped you could tell Summerland had come to play hockey but it wasn't long before Princeton scored their first goal and never looked back ending the game 7-1.
It was then off to Summerland the following weekend for what could be the final game of the season. Although this game saw more penalties for both teams, Princeton had no trouble killing penalties and capitalized on the power plays.
After 3 periods of play Princeton came out on top 9-1. The Summerland Jets manager presented Princeton's captain Jonas Montgomery with the A Division Banner.
The Bantam Flyers should be very proud of their accomplishments, as they have had only 11 players on the roster for the last two months, they have not had a regular goalie since mid November and still continued to dominate the league. Kraig Leochko, Keaton Ashley, Justin Gill, Cody Wharton, Ian McKenzie and Drayden Larsen, who played 3 out of 4 playoff games, have shown true sportsmanship by filling in the goalie spot.
This year was not possible without the remarkable scoring skills of the forward lines of Jonas Montgomery, Keaton Ashley, Justin Milligan, Kraig Leochko, Drayden Larsen, Cody Wharton and Brandt Fennrick.
Adding to the strength of the team with great defensive skills is Josh Coyne, Justin Gill, Jordan Palumbo and Ian McKenzie. We must also not forget Kiel Liberatore and Taylor Esselink who helped the team get to the finals but were unable to finish the year. The team was very disciplined on the ice taking relatively few penalties all year.
First time head Coach Gerad Norman said, "the kids were awesome and I had a great year with them, they showed great sportsmanship."
"They showed a number of improvements this year and I am very proud of them", said Asst. coach Logan McKenzie.
Congratulations to the Overwaitea Bantam Flyers, coaches Gerad Norman and Logan McKenzie. Congratulations must also go out to the Midgets on their win in their Division, the Pee Wees on winning the B Division, and the Atoms on a hard fought playoff run.
The Bantams and parents would like to thank all the fans that came out to support the team this year.
