There are just three Merritt minor hockey teams remaining in the playoffs. Here’s where they’re at:

Midget House

The NVIT midgets stunned the Lillooet Pistols 3-1 on Sunday to take game two of their best-of-three championships series. It was Lillooet’s first loss of the season, and followed the Pistols’ 4-1 win over Merritt in Lillooet on Saturday.

In Sunday’s game, the Jr. Cents were full value for their victory. They built a 3-0 lead on goals by Wyatt MacDonald, Travis Mosley and Adam Tippe, while Merritt netminder Trevor Hillson was brilliant between the pipes in stopping all but one Pistols’ shot late in the third period.

The third and deciding game in the series goes this Saturday in Lillooet.

Peewee Rep

The Ramada Inn peewees fell 3-1 to first-place South Okanagan in the opening game of their best-of-three championship series on Sunday.

Merritt’s Caleb Brackett opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, with an assist from Max Graham. South O answered with two goals in the second period and one more in the third.

Game two of the series goes this Saturday in Merritt at the Shulus arena, starting at 2:30 p.m. Game three, if needed, will be back in the South Okanagan on Sunday.

Atom Development

The Fountain Tire atoms secured first place overall in the regular season with a 6-0 win over Kelowna in their final league game on Saturday.

Max Graham had the hat trick for the winners, while Lucas Schmid scored twice and Robert Sterling tallied once and added three helpers. Other assists went to Graham, Schmid, Wyatt Smith and Brayden McRae Chillihitzia.
Manjot Panghli and Nathan Willey shared the shutout in net.

The Merritt atoms travel to North Okanagan this weekend for their three-day playoff tournament.