The Merritt Joco Transport peewee girls are just one step away from winning their first-ever Okanagan superleague title. They play Kelowna #1 this weekend in a best-of-three championship series, with game one scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.

Game two goes Saturday in Kelowna, while a third and deciding game (if needed) will be back in Merritt on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Joco girls earned the right to play for the Okanagan championship thanks to a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind series win over Kelowna #2 in semi-final action last weekend.

Merritt’s peewees lost game one to Kelowna #2 on home ice last Friday by a score of 5-2. Tyra Gage scored both Joco goals in the loss.

In game two on Saturday in Kelowna, it was Taylia McKeown’s turn to notch both goals as Merritt won 2-1 in overtime.

Game three back in Merritt on Sunday went to overtime, too. Gage’s third goal of the series in the first minute of OT won the game 3-2 for Merritt. Other scorers for the victorious side were Hope Smith and Taylor Shackelly.

Merritt’s bantam girls team is also playing for an Okanagan title this weekend. The McDonald’s girls are down one game to none in their best-of-three championship series with Clearwater, after losing 5-1 to their North Thompson opponents last Sunday.

Games two and three are both in Merritt this weekend. Times and locations have yet to be announced.

A third Merritt superleague team is also in the midst of playoffs. The Merritt midget house #1 squad will play Logan Lake in a best-of-three series beginning Feb. 28 at 8:30 p.m. in Merritt. Game two is slated for 1:45 p.m. on March 1 in Logan Lake and game three (if needed) is scheduled for March 2 at 3:30 p.m. in Merritt.

In league play, the local Fountain Tire atoms defeated Kelowna 9-5 on Saturday. Merritt scorers were Max Graham, Matthew Newman, Breanna Ouellet and Sajjin Lali.

The local atoms followed that up with an 11-2 exhibition win over a Kamloops peewee girls team on Sunday.

Merritt’s atom development squad plays a pair of exhibition games this weekend. They host West Kelowna on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Merritt, and Kelowna on Sunday at 12 noon, also in Merritt.

On Saturday, there is a day-long Initiation tournament at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Visiting teams are from Kelowna, North Okanagan and Princeton. Here’s the schedule:

7:30 Merritt White vs. Kelowna

8:45 Merritt vs. North O #1

10:00 Princeton vs. North O #2

11:15 Merritt White vs. North O #1

12:00 Princeton vs. Kelowna (Shulus)

12:30 Merritt Red vs. North O #2

1:45 Kelowna vs. North O #1

3:00 Merritt White vs. North O #2

4:15 Merritt Red vs. Princeton