Staff
The Gillons’ Sharks had the best showing among the local teams playing in the Fort Frances Minor Hockey Association’s annual Atom ‘A’ tournament.
They wound up claiming the bronze medal after doubling the Dryden Leafs 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Kale Henttonen opened the scoring for the Sharks with 8:35 left in the first period before Kyler Johnson knotted it at 1-1 just under four minutes later.
Not to be outdone, Duncan Hill tallied to put the Sharks back in front with just 10 seconds to go in the period.
Johnson drew the Leafs level once more at 2-2 with 9:27 to go in the second but Gavin Hill notched back-to-back markers just under three minutes apart later in the frame to cap the scoring.
The Sharks had opened tourney play Friday with a 5-2 win over the Mallons Elks.
Noah Avis scored twice while Connor Byzewski, Ella Evans, and Duncan Hill notched singles.
They then suffered a 5-2 loss to International Falls Purple later in the day, with Avis and Evans providing the Sharks’ offence.
But Gillons’ bounced back Saturday to eke out a 2-1 victory over Kenora Blue on goals by Duncan Hill and Avis.
The squad then routed the Rainy Lake Attack 9-3 later in the day on the strength of Avis’ five-goal performance.
Gavin Hill and Duncan Hill also both scored twice to pace the Sharks’ attack.
Gillons’ then was blanked 7-0 by International Falls Gold on Sunday morning to drop down to the bronze-medal game with a 3-2 record.
The Attack, meanwhile, nabbed fifth place following a narrow 5-4 win over the Emo Express on Sunday morning.
Racin Witherspoon led the way with a hat trick while Everett Aucoin tallied twice for the Attack.
Malcolm Martin (two), Parker Wiersema, and Aiden MacTavish responded for the Express.
Rainy Lake had opened tourney play Friday with a 9-1 loss to International Falls Purple.
Hannah Pope netted the Attack’s lone goal in the third period of that one.
But the squad rebounded with a 4-1 victory over Kenora Blue later in the day before getting shut out 1-0 by the Elks on Saturday.
The Attack then were routed by the Sharks to wrap up round-robin play.
The other Fort Frances team, the Causeway Cougars, wound up with a 2-2 record to finish shy of Sunday’s playoffs.
They had opened play Friday by being routed 10-0 by International Falls Gold before rebounding later in the day by downing the Leafs 5-3.
The Cougars then lost 5-2 to the Express on Saturday before ending tourney play on a positive note with a 4-2 win over Kenora Black.
The FFMHA next will host its annual Atom ‘AA’ tournament this Friday through Sunday at the Memorial Sports Centre.
