The Kamloops Storm’s KIJHL season is over.
The Storm lost 3-2 to the North Okanagan Knights in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series in Armstrong on Thursday. The Knights won the best-of-seven series 4-1.
The Knights won the series’ first three games, before host Kamloops won 1-0 on Tuesday evening. The Storm’s attempt at an epic comeback ended when North Okanagan scored a power-play goal in the late stages of the third period to put away Thursday’s game.
Brett Watkinson and Blake Culbert scored the goals for the Storm. Further information was unavailable.
The Knights have advanced to play the Sicamous Eagles in Round 2. North Okanagan finished first in the Doug Birks Division, with Sicamous only one point behind.
The Eagles won the last four games of their series with the Revelstoke Grizzlies — including a 5-2 victory Thursday — and won 4-1.
* * *
Connor Brown-Maloski of the Beaver Valley Nitehawks was named the rookie of the year in the Neil Murdoch Division.
Brown-Maloski, a 16-year-old Kamloops native, had 53 points, including 37 assists, in 50 games for the Nitehawks. Beaver Valley is in the middle of an excellent series with the Nelson Leafs — the Nitehawks won 7-6 last night to take a 3-2 series lead ahead of tonight’s Game 6 in Nelson.
