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Tillsonburg bantams primed for playoffs

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OMHA BB playdowns are just around the corner for Tillsonburg's Oxford Source for Sports bantam hockey team.

And Wednesday's 3-0 win over Caledonia at the Kinsmen Memorial Arena may be a sign they are ready for the post-season. They might not have said that Monday after a 2-1 win in Tavistock.

"We had a little struggle up in Tavistock Monday night, so this was a good rebound game going into next week," said Oxford Source for Sports coach Terry Hildebrant, looking forward to a Wednesday, Jan. 15 (8 p.m.) OMHA BB best-of-five home opener against Glanbrook.

"We use the KISS theory," Hildebrant smiled. "Keep it simple silly. Overall, I'm happy with the way the guys are playing."

Tillsonburg's quest for a Regional Silver Stick 'A' tournament in Welland/Pelham ended in the quarter-finals with a 6-2 loss to Fort Erie.

"We were a little banged up, so it was a bit of a challenge for us," said Hildebrant, noting they had some missing players. "We didn't play as good as we had prior to Christmas, but we met a couple really good, solid hockey teams. Even though we lost 6-2, we outshot them 8-0 in the first period. Just couldn't find a goal. There were some glimpses of glory, but we just couldn't finish the game."

Tillsonburg 3, Caledonia 0

Nehemiah Dube opened the scoring for Tillsonburg at 14:14 of the first period. Alex Sutherland and Jarrod Winter put it away with second period goals.

"We didn't let them get to our net very much," said coach Hildebrant. "When you don't give up shots, it's easier to defend."

Caledonia will play Ingersoll, bumped up to BB with the addition of several Thamesford players, in the first round of OMHA BB playdowns with the eventual winner meeting the winner of Tillsonburg-Glanbrook.

"In our (Southern Counties) league, we were first, Ingersoll second, Caledonia third, Glanbrook fourth, so we ended up playing Glanbrook in the first round. It's going to be an interesting series – they're a quick team... they're going to be a tough team to beat. I think we're good enough to beat them, but it'll be a tough battle. They're not going to give it to us, there's no doubt about that.

"You can't take any periods off – it's too important now – we're at a point where it could be the one that hurts you. And that's what happened in (the Silver Stick), we just didn't have the three periods. We beat beat Lincoln and should have beat Port Colborne. We gave up a 2-0 lead with four minutes to go and ended up tied."

Tillsonburg scoring: 1. Nehemiah Dube (Seth Lamoure, Jarrod Winter); 2. Alex Sutherland; 3. Jarrod Winter (Nehemiah Dube, Seth Lamoure)

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