Ewert, Team B.C. advance to gold-medal clash with Alberta

Joel Ewert of Prince George will play for gold at the Canada Winter Games.

The 23-year-old helped Team BC defeat Manitoba 70-41 in a semifinal playoff Friday night in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Gabe Harrison of Pender Island led B.C. offensively with 22 points, while Joel Aukema of Langley scored 12.

B.C. (4-0) will face Alberta in the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. Alberta topped Quebec 57-52 in the other semifinal.

In other Prince George results at the Games, Prince George biathlete Aliah Turner came agonizingly close to the medal podium Friday in Brookvale, P.E.I.

Turner, 16, a  member of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club in Prince George, teamed up with 18-year-old Alexander Hatloe of Whistler in the single mixed relay event and they finished fourth.

Quebec (Jean-Nicolas de Broek of Saint Foy and Isabelle Caza of Chelsea) won gold in 58:52.0. Alberta (Pete Rojkovski and Wallace Siemens, both of Calgary) claimed silver in 59:44.9.

Bronze went to Yukon (Cole Germaine and Cheyenne Tirschmann, both of Whitehorse) who clocked 59:44.9. Turner/Hatloe posted a time of 1:0131.7.

Meanwhile, on a snowy day on the long track speed skating oval in Halifax, Kieran Hanson, a former Prince George Blizzard club member who now lives in Fort St. John, was fourth in the male 1,000-mtre race Friday.

The 20-year-old stopped the clock in 1;19.62, next in the finish order behind bronze medalist Luca Veeman of Saskatoon (1:18.36). Jalen Doan of Calgary (1:17.53) and Yankun Zhao of Calgary (1:18.23) won gold and silver respectively.

Nicholas Guliov of Fort St. John placed 11,th Jack Hanson of Fort St. John was 20th and Matthew Mitchell of Fort St. John was 26th.

In the 10-lap mass start event, the final long track event of the Games, Veeman won gold, Doan took silver and Zacharie Desprey of Quebec won bronze.

Jack Hanson won the mass start B-final in 6:21.03, just ahead of his B.C. teammate Mitchell (6:21.62).

In male hockey, B.C. lost 8-6 Friday to Ontario ina semifinal. Ontario will advance to play Saskatchewan in the gold-medal game on Saturday.

Prince George minor hockey products - goalie Ryder Green and forwards Chase Harrington and Cameron Schmidt - saw their gold-medal hopes dashed on the ice in Charlotttetown as th boys from B.C. lost for a second time to an Ontario squad that beat them 7-4 in their tournament opener on Sunday.

Cameron Schmidt, who scored two goals in B.C.'s 4-2 quarterfinal win over Manitoba, made it close when he scored his fourth of the tournament with 3:26 left but Ontario forward Ryan Roobroeck sealed it with an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left.

B.C. outshot their opponents 54-44.Ken Cleaver of Port Alberni took the loss in net.

B.C. will play Quebec for bronze Saturday at noon PT, followed by the gold-medal game at 3:30 p.m. PT

As of late Friday afternoon, Quebec leads the medal standings with 59 medals, including 22 gold, 20 silver and 17 bronze. B.C. ranks second with 41 medals (17G, 8S, 16B), followed by Ontario with 39 (9G, 15S, 135 B).followed by Alberta with 37 (10G,14S, 13B).