The Vernon Watkin Motors Mustangs finished off their 49th annual Coca Cola Classic Vernon Winter Carnival Peewee Hockey Tournament at Kal Tire Place North Sunday with a dominating performance.
Twelve of 15 players hit the scoresheet as the host Mustangs pounded the Merritt Centennials 18-4 to take the Mickey McMahon D Final Trophy. Vernon fell in the C final in the 2019 tournament.
Captain Hudson Kibblewhite led the onslaught with a 10-point game, four goals and six assists. Oliver Murray had five goals and one helper, and Dariusz Szwed chipped in 1+4. Caden Oliver (2A), Ollie Reid and Hudson Restiaux each scored twice for Vernon while Evan Kashuba (2A) and Brayden Fernley rounded out the scoring to support Calder Barry in the Vernon goal.
Noah Frick had three assists, Mario Reda and Lyndon Tung had two helpers each and Gavin Dolling added one assist.
Cayden Bergstrom led Merritt with a goal and an assist.
Vernon led 3-1 after one period and 8-3 after 40 minutes.
The Mustangs lost 5-4 to the Port Moody Pirates in the consolation semifinals Saturday. Tyson Moss scored the winner for the Pirates with 9:50 left in the third period.
Kibblewhite scored twice for Vernon and added an assist on a goal by Reid. Murray had the other goal for Vernon in support of goalie Bryce Cormier.
READ MORE: Vernon Mustangs fall in tourney opener
Vernon fell 4-3 to South Delta, 8-4 to Yellowknife and 7-2 to Kamloops in the preliminary round.
South Okanagan won the Battle of the South, beating South Delta Storm 8-2 to win the Amy Myles A Division Trophy. Both teams were 4-0 entering the championship game.
South OK scored six unanswered goals over the game’s final 23 minutes for the title. Liam Ruck scored four times for the champs and added an assist.
The Yellowknife Wolfpack collected the Alex Kuly B Division title, downing the Coquitlam Chiefs 6-3. Ryder Wicks and Wesley Lizotte each scored twice for Yellowknife.
Jayce Matkowski scored with 1:10 left in the first overtime to give the Kamloops Blazers a 5-4 win over the Port Moody Pirates in the Mickey McMahon C Division Final. The Pirates lost 9-7 to the Vancouver Thunderbirds in the 2019 tournament championship game.
Moss scored his second goal of the game with 7:03 left in regulation time to force OT for the Pirates.
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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