Crossroads staff
The West Central Bantam Wheat Kings had a chance at a win to finish last weekend’s road trip but the Saskatoon Outlaws edged them in overtime on Sunday.
The bantam Wheat Kings were already smarting from having been battered 7-2 by the Broncos in Humboldt on Saturday and shut out 7-0 by the North East Wolfpack in Tisdale on Friday.
They host the Melville Millionaires in Macklin this Saturday and the Martensville Marauders in Kindersley on Sunday.
The peewee Wheat Kings return to action this weekend, hosting the Tisdale Ramblers in Kindersley on Saturday and in Unity on Sunday.
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They had their winning streak broken just before the Christmas break, losing 6-4 to the Warman Wildcats on Dec. 21. They came back with a win the next day, 12-4 over the Battleford Barons in Macklin.
The Wheat Kings let up against Warman, said West Central head coach, Brett Sautner.
They were up 4-1 after two periods “and we took a few minutes off, and it was quickly a game,” he said.
The Wildcat top line “is very, very good and you’ve got to stay on top of them for the entire game,” he said.
“We just have to stay on top of them for the full 60 minutes and play hard the entire game,” said Sautner.
But the Wheat Kings’ performance in the Sask Challenge Cup peewee tier 1 tournament, held last weekend in Saskatoon, showed how close they are to the Wildcats, he said.
After the round robin, the 3-0 Wheat Kings were second among 24 teams and got a bye to a semifinal game, said Sautner.
They lost 4-3 in overtime to the Saskatoon Mission, which went on to win the final 7-1 over the Saskatoon Express.
“We’re right there. We could easily have won the tournament. We’re getting there,” he said.
The Warman Wildcats, who also attended, had finished 3-0 and first in the round robin (on wins of 12-2 over the SEERA Stealth, 11-1 over the Melville Millionaires and 5-1 over the Saskatoon Thunder).
But Warman lost a semifinal, 4-3, to the Express.
“So we’re real close,” said Sautner.
In bantam action, Ethan Hilbig, Colbey Frocklage, Karson Blanchette and Leightin Partington scored Wheat King goals in Saskatoon.
Luke Korte with two, Cole Barry, Berkly Catton and Jackson Wingert scored for the Outlaws.
Korte also had three assists.
Avery Kohlman made 16 saves in the Wheat King net.
Outlaw starter Sam Fritz stopped 12 of 15 shots in 43 minutes and 15 seconds in net. James Venne blocked 10 of 11 shots in relief.
Blanchette and Jakin Lawrence scored for the Wheat Kings in Humboldt.
Kylynn Olafson and Ty Sundholm each scored twice for the Broncos. Bauer Dumanski, Tyler Lindal and McLaren Paulsen added singles.
Jackson Allan had three assists.
Blake Sittler stopped 34 shots in the West Central goal.
Trey Kincade made 27 saves minding the Bronco net.
The Wheat Kings outshot the Wolfpack 32-25.
But the Tisdale team made theirs count. Nate Misskey got a hat trick. Zackery Somers scored twice. Landen Stromme and Caden Drury also tallied.
Stromme and Connor Hvidston had two assists each.
Kohlman minded the Wheat King net.
Wolfpack goalie Cody Wilson got the shutout.
In that Sask. Challenge Cup semifinal, Carter Ralston scored twice and Dayton Reschny also tallied for the peewee Wheat Kings.
Tyson Borschneck made 25 saves in the West Central net.
Kelden Mackenzie, Mason Karakochuk and
Trae Wilke got Mission goals.
Wheat King shots on the Mission goal, defended by Riley Deck, weren’t recorded.
In the round robin, the peewee Wheat Kings beat the Weyburn YF Wings 7-3 and trounced the Yellowknife Wolfpack 8-1 on Friday and shut out the Saskatoon Fury 5-0 on Saturday before playing the Mission.
Cam Perlinger scored twice and Cole and Dayton Reschny and Jake Hudec got the other West Central markers against the Fury. Perlinger and Cole Reschny each had two assists.
Paige Fischer made 20 saves in picking up the shutout.
Her teammates fired 61 shots at the Fury counterpart, Eric Kahl.
Pherson Loehndorf and Cobe Perlinger scored twice and Hudec, Pryce Thiessen, Kayden Cey and Cam Perlinger scored against Yellowknife.
Thiessen, Dayton Reschny and Kayden Hrycan had two assists each.
Ethan Carr scored for the Wolfpack.
Again, the Wheat Kings had a huge edge in shots: 32-10. Borschneck having little action in the West Central net. Spencer Miller tended the Yellowknife goal.
Cole Reschny got four goals against the Weyburn YF Wings. Cey, Dayton Reschny and Ethan Sautner also got West Central goals.
Loehndorf assisted on three of the goals.
Conner Keff scored all three Wings goals.
Owen Istace had two assists.
Two female goaltenders squared off. Fischner faced 22 shots while the Wheat King skaters put 35 shots on the Weyburn goal, tended by J’Anne Colbow.
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