The Bantam Thunder worked hard in Salmon Arm last weekend, before being taken out of contention by the soon-to-be tournament winners.
Their 2-2 record was good enough for fourth out of 12 teams in the tournament.
Their first game found the team running strong against Terrace, with a strong performance by the whole team. The Thunder won the game, 6-2, with Myles Mattila leading the charge with four goals and Keith Redden netting the other two. Goaltender Reign Turley played an impressive 60 minutes in net, giving the Thunder the foundation they needed to win.
Game two had the Thunder up against the Pursuit of Excellence, which, despite the daunting name, the Thunder dominated with a 7-3 final. Brant Powell lead the scoring with two excellent goals.
The Westside Academy turned out to be a stumbling stone for the Thunder, or perhaps they created their own stumbling stone, with stellar attendance in the penalty box. The lack of on-ice players in favour of in-box players ended in a 5-0 loss for the Thunder.
Their record good enough to vault them into the finals, the Thunder came up against Westside once again, though this time with a better attendance record on ice. The game stayed close for most of the 60 minutes, with 4-3 score, Mattila with two and Marshall Brown with the other, until Westside scored two back-to-back and took the electricity out of the Thunder. The 6-3 loss was the Thunders final game in the tournament.
Westside went on to beat Williams Lake in the final to take first in the tournament.