STORY BY BOB B. OAR
PHOTOS BY CARMA DOUHTIT, TONI MARCROFT and MIKE MCKENNA
The Sun Valley Pee Wees (ages 11-12) took two teams to Teton Valley last week and grabbed a six-pack of victories for their efforts.
Playing in the cold and snowy confines of the partially-enclosed Kolter Ice Arena in Victor, the coed hockey teams each played four games.
The Sun Valley Black team went undefeated for the weekend, missing out on playing for the championship by a mere goal in the tie-breaker stats. As snow breezed in across the northeast corner of the rink, the hard-charging Suns Black Team took on Teton Valley White for third and handed the feisty Cutthroats squad their only loss of the tourney, 4-1. The Black team also cruised to victories over the Idaho Falls Eagles, Park City Ice Miners and Provo Peak Predators.
The Boise Junior Steelheads, who the Suns Pee Wees have beaten three times earlier this season, took home the tournament title.
The Sun Valley Red team went 2 and 2 over the overcast weekend on the eastern edge of Idaho. The Red team was made up primarily of first year Pee Wees, including three players borrowed from the McCall Mountaineers. The Red team beat the Bozeman Ice Dogs and Idaho Falls, while losing close contests to the Peak Predators and to the Eagles in a snowy shoot-out.
The Suns got top-notch goal tending from Caleb Kurtz, who made 45 saves and had 3 wins during the tournament. Naomi Gorringe had 17 saves and 1 win, while primarily skating out for both teams. Zach Drabek, filling in from McCall, also played well and had 2 wins in net.
The Sun were led in scoring by Will Lamoureux with 9 goals. Mason Bucknell was next with 5 goals and 2 assists (7 points). Sammy McKenna with 4 goals and Max Reeder from McCall with one, each had 5 points. Taj Redman had 3 goals, while Naomi Gorringe and Jett Van Bueren each scored twice and they all tallied 4 points.
Patrick Hebert (3 points) and Peyton Cooley each scored twice. Decker Sinnamon had a goal and added 2 assists. Kolton Marcroft, Fynley Norton and Graeson Nachman from McCall all had a goal and an assist. Alex Carlson and Leila McGrew also scored goals, while Emmett Crist and Kellan Turner each had an assist.
The Suns also got impressive play and great effort from defensemen Rydge Douthit and Maeve Mulick, as well as forwards Brayden Edgerten and Briggs Stevenson.
The fun-to-watch Suns squads were led by coaches Andrew Hebert, Jeff Lamoureux, Mike McKenna and Ann Mulick.
The impressive Pee Wee group goes into the winter break with a combined record of 20 wins to just 6 loses, while sending teams to play in A, B+ and B level tournaments.
They’ll head to Boise to end the calendar year and will host their home tournament at Hailey Ice Jan. 21-23.