Vipers out, Vees go to 7

WENATCHEE, Wash. — KJ Vanderbeck scored 3:38 into the second overtime period as Wenatchee rallied to beat visiting Vernon, Saturday to win theBCHL Interior Division semifinal series 4-2.

Jasper Weatherby and Sam Hesler scored third-period goals as the Wild overcame a 3-1 deficit.

Zak Galambos had the other goal in the first period for the Wild, who had a huge 59-26 edge in shots on goal.

Derek Brown, Niko Karamanis and Jimmy Lambert scored in the first period for Vernon.

After losing the first two in Vernon, Wenatchee won four straight games in the series, including a pivotal 3-2 double-overtime win Friday in Vernon. The Vipers had tied the game with 0.6 seconds left in regulation time, but Chad Sasaki got the winner 3:09 in the second overtime stanza. Vees 6 Trail 1 In Trail, Saturday, Kelowna product Marcus Mitchell produced a hat-trick and Massimo Rizzo scored twice as the Vees stunned a sold-out crowd of 3,108 fans at Cominco Arena with a 6-1 romp over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Saturday.

Wyatt Sloboshan also scored and the Vees built period leads of 1-0 and 4-0 as they prolonged their season and stopped Trail from advancing to the third round of the playoffs for the first time in the club’s history.

Jonny Tychonick assisted on Sloboshan’s goal, giving the standout rearguard points in each of the Vees 10 playoff games (3 goals, 15 points).

Adam Scheel needed to make just 18 saves, but several were vital ones when the game was close. Adam Marcoux had 30 stops for the Smokies.

Game 7 goes tonight at 7 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre, with the winner advancing to play Wenatchee in the Interior Conference championship series.