The Merritt Fountain Tire atom development team gave an older, more experienced Quesnel Thunder squad all it could handle on the weekend but, in the end, the locals had to settle for second place in their own six-team tournament.

The Fountain Tire Jr. Cents could not hold onto an early two-goal lead and were struck down by the Thunder 5-3 in the gold medal game on Sunday.

The Merritt atoms qualified for the championship game thanks to a thrilling 4-3 victory over their arch-rivals, the North Okanagan Knights. Caleb Brackett netted the game winner in overtime to send the host team to the A final.

In round robin play, the Jr. Cents opened the tournament with a pair of 6-4 wins, over South Okanagan and the Blue Admirals from Seattle, Wash. Merritt’s only loss in round robin play was to Quesnel, 5-2.

Tournament scorers for the Fountain Tire team over the weekend were Max Graham, Breanna Ouellet, Matthew Newman, Chase Cooke, Robert Sterling, Divaan Sahota and Brackett. Sajjin Lali chipped in with a couple of assists.

Outstanding in net for the Merritt team was the goaltending tandem of Bryce Garcia and Carson Lang.

Atom House

The LNB atom house travelled to Clearwater on the weekend for a doubleheader against the first-place Raiders.

After losing 12-6 in Saturday’s opening tilt, the Merritt squad bounced back magnificently with a 10-8 win on Sunday, handing Clearwater their first loss of the season.

“It was probably the best game the kids have played all year,” said coach Shane Jarvie. “They did everything right. It was a great team effort.”

Peewee Girls

The Joco Transport peewee girls battled Penticton to a 2-2 tie on Sunday in the Lakeside City. Merritt goals were scored by Jenna Kane, from Reese Patterson, and Jorja Thormoset. Janelle Gage was once again stellar in net for the Joco girls.

Bantam Girls

The McDonald’s bantam girls finished second at a three-day tournament in Kamloops on the Nov. 23 weekend.

The Merritt lasses picked up a pair of wins over the host team (10-1 and 5-1). Their third victory, 4-0 over Surrey, was a shutout effort by McDonald’s netminder Emma Ferch.

Both of Merritt’s tournament losses were to the eventual champions from Abbotsford, by scores of 4-0 and 3-0.

Midget Rep

The Tracker Sports-wear midgets have been busy recently.

On Nov. 24, the team travelled to Vernon for an exhibition game against the city’s tier two team and lost 5-0.

In a pair of league games played on the weekend, the local midget reps battled hard and played well defensively to defeated Kelowna 4-2 on Saturday. The next day, Sam Suzuki earned the shutout in a 5-0 win for Merritt against Summerland.

Merritt scorers on the weekend were Tyler Edward, Jessie Cunningham, Grady Musgrave, Bradley Colter, Jesse Kane, Marcelo Bose and Grayson McMaster.

Home Games This Weekend

Saturday

10:45 Atom House vs. Ashcroft (Shulus)

11:00 Novice Red vs. Salmon Arm (Merritt)

12:30 Bantam Rep vs. W. Kelowna (Shulus)

2:30 Novice Red vs Salmon Arm (Merritt)

2:45 Midget Rep vs. W. Kelowna (Shulus)

Sunday

12:00 Novice Red exhibition game (Merritt)

1:45 Atom Dev. vs. Salmon Arm (Shulus)

3:30 Jr. Girls vs. Kamloops (Shulus)