Neepawa Tigers advance in high school hockey playoffs NACI Tigers win Zone 7 Basketball Championship JV Squad defeats Carberry in Zone Final 64-54

By Eoin Devereux Neepawa Banner & Press

A 14-point performance from Mico Cabacungan, helped propel the NACI Tigers to a 64-54 victory over the Carberry Cougars in the Zone-7 JV Boys Basketball Championship.

Most of Cabacungan’s scoring came in the first half, as he tallied 11 points early. He did, however add three more late in the fourth quarter, to help ensure the win.

The Neepawa Tigers were able to defeat the Birtle Falcons in the first round of the WHSHL playoffs, 2-games-to-1.

By Eoin Devereux Neepawa Banner & Press

The Neepawa Tigers have emerged from the first round of the Westman High School Hockey League (WHSHL) with a well deserved series win over the Birtle Falcons. The Tigers had to earn it, however, as the Falcons gave everything they could in the short, but exciting three game series.

For the first game, played in Neepawa on Mar. 1, the Tigers needed to go into overtime to pick up the 7-6 decision. Myles Willerton played the hero on this night, collecting the OT winner after nearly 15 minutes of extra game played. Tarek Lapointe, who assisted on the game winner, closed out evening with an incredible 5-point performance (3 goals - 2 assists). Riley Davie, as well as Cohen and Jory Kulbacki, had the other goals for the Tigers.

The next game was in Birtle and didn’t go as planned for the Tigers, as they lost 5-2. Lapointe scored twice for Neepawa in the first period, but he and the rest of the team were shut down from there.

Colby Asselstine lead the way for the Falcons, with a pair of goals and an assist, while his teammate Fred Hrycak came up huge in net, with a 43 save effort.

The deciding game was played at the Yellowhead Centre on Friday, Mar. 3, and saw Neepawa close out the series with a 7-4 win.

After surrendering the first goal of the game mid-way through the first, the Tigers came back with goals from Callan Denbow and Cohen Kulbacki, to make 2-1 at the first intermission.

The second period turned into a shooting gallery, with six goals registered, three for each club.

Tristan Friesen, Riley Davie and Jory Kulbacki all scored for the Tigers. For the third, Hayden Delaloye and Cohen Kulbacki contributed for NACI to ensure the game and series victory.

The Neepawa Tigers now move on to the championship brackets semifinals, where they will meet the top team in the WHSHL, the Killarney/ Wawanesa Raiders. Game one was played on Tuesday night at the Shamrock Centre in Killarney. In that game, Neepawa were defeated by the score of 8-5.

Game two will be in Neepawa on Friday, Mar. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Game three, if needed, will be in Killarney on Sunday, Mar. 12.

Though Mico was the leading scorer on the night, this victory was definitively a team effort, with Trent Tomoniko putting up a 10-point effort. Another notable part of the action saw Sammy Uyaivato came up with a big block near the end of the second quarter, dampering a Carberry comeback heading into half-time.

Carberry, who held a

17-13 lead after the first quarter, were lead by the solid play of Alex Prodan and Owen Unrau. Congratulations to both Nee- pawa and Carberry, who were far and away, the best team throughout the entire regular season.