The 100 Mile House Wranglers took advantage of the 691 raucous home-town fans to avoid being swept by the Kamloops Storm in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) Round 2 playoff action on March 6.
Down three games to none the Wranglers showed grit as they knocked off last season's Okanagan Shuswap Conference champions quite handily.
A loss to the Storm on Friday would have resulted in a repeat of last season's Round 2 action which ended the Wranglers inaugural KIJHL season.
Michael Lynch, with assists from Austin Turner and Brett Harris, opened the scoring with a powerplay marker at 15:23 of the opening frame.
However, Kamloops knotted the score with a powerplay marker of their own early in the second stanza.
From there it was the A. Turner show with goals at 8:13 (Devan Suidy) and 5:16 (Cole Weber, Harris).
Going into the third period with a 3-1 lead, Harris scored an empty net goal with 3:26 left on the clock to send the fans home happy.
Wranglers goalie Kristian Stead was steady again, saving 24 of 25 Storm shots. A. Turner was the home team's star of the game, with two goals and an assist for the night.
Game 5 is tonight (March 7) in Kamloops.
Game 6 (if necessary) is March 9 in 100 Mile House.
Game 7 (if necessary) is March 10 in Kamloops.
