A 7-3 loss to the Hollyburn Huskies in the round robin served as both a wake-up call and motivation for the Kelowna Fripp Warehousing Rockets.
In a rematch of the two teams in the final, the Rockets blitzed Hollyburn 7-0 to capture the Kelowna Midget Tier 1 Fall Classic title.
It’s the second year in a row the Rockets have won the tournament and their second tournament win of the 2012-13 season.
In the gold medal game Sunday at Memorial Arena, Brandon Barnes led the way with two goals and an assist, while Gage Colpron scored twice.
Mark Ridley was a force on the back end and chipped in with three assists. Tanner Campbell added a goal and an assist while Braeden Cyra and Trevor Pereverzoff rounded out the goal scoring. Chris Turner earned the shutout in goal.
“Kelowna’s well balanced attack and solid D along with steady goaltending found its form as the tourney evolved and showed its best in the tournament final,” said Rockets coach Eric Blais. “This is the Rockets’ second straight tournament championship, as they won the Kamloops Invitational early in October on Thanksgiving weekend.”
In the semifinal, the Rockets defeated Prince George 3-2, as Adam Beatty scored the winner with just over four minutes left in the game.
In other round robin games, Kelowna beat Notre Dame 5-2 and North Shore 6-1.
Cyra had four goals and two assists in the two games, Beatty had two goals and four assists, and Kobe Oishi had five points.
Kristian Blumenschein, Arlyn Semeschuk, Keaton Hodgson, Steven Fiust, Erick Noh, Austin Lindsay and Steven Hawes also had points during the weekend, while Sam Bobyn also earned a win in the Kelowna net.
This weekend, Fripp will play the Winfield juveniles on Friday and POE on Saturday.
