Three Sun Valley Youth Hockey teams played well during the Idaho Amateur Hockey Association state championships last weekend in Boise.
Led by senior goalie Regan O'Reilly (91 saves on 99 shots), Sun Valley's Midget "A" team won its state championship with a 4-1 record including a huge 5-2 victory over Boise Steelheads AA team in Saturday's final game at Ice World.
Sun Valley's Bantams (ages 13-14) went 1-1-1 at Boise and narrowly missed a berth in the championship game. And the Girls' U19 squad continued its amazing progress going 0-2-1 in their three games at state.
Midgets storm back from a loss
After losing their first game 3-0 to Boise Steelheads AA, the local high school skaters coached by Andrew Hebert stormed back with 4-3, 4-1 and 4-2 wins over Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and Idaho Falls and made the championship game.
Danny Ward scored the game winner on the power play against Post Falls Friday and Blake King had a pair of goals in the 4-1 rout of Coeur d'Alene. Max Kwok's three-goal hat trick sparked the 4-2 victory over Idaho Falls Saturday.
Weekend-high scorer Ward added two more goals in Sunday's 5-2 title game victory and O'Reilly stopped 22 of 24 shots. All 12 of Sun Valley's short-benched team played with heart and determination.
The IAHA state scoring summary: Danny Ward 4 goals/2 assists; Jeff Conover 2/3; Max Kwok 4/1; Patrick McMahon 1/3; Travis Amick 1/3; Matt Alloway 1/2; Carl Jablonski 2/1; Blake King 2/0; Michael Connor 0/1; Kyle Cole 0/1; Rune Haavik 0/1; and Brandon Brocklebank.
Sun Valley hosts another state championship tournament Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Sun Valley Skating Center and has hopes of qualifying for regional competition.
Bantams give it their all
Coaches Eddie Grimes and Nicole Perkins were pleased with the Bantams' team effort that included an 8-1 loss to eventual state winner Boise Junior Steelheads, a 3-3 tie with Idaho Falls and a 6-4 victory over Coeur d'Alene Thunder.
Ian Murphy's unassisted equalizer saved the day for the young Suns Friday in the 3-3 tie. Goalie Cassidy Carson saved 22 of 25 shots he faced. And Nick Crosby (5 goals) was an offensive machine in the 6-4 triumph—goalie Cody Levitan (15 saves) doing a great job.
Weekend scoring: Nick Crosby 8 goals/1 assist; Zak Sjoberg 1/2; Anthony Martin 0/3; Ian Murphy 1/1; Charlie Evans 0/1; and Jonathan Hobbs 0/1. Other skaters were Alexander MacMillan, Tommy Heinrich, Doogie King, Davis Hague and Cooper Hanley.
Many fans support girls U19
Sun Valley's U19 girls' hockey team enjoyed the support of many parents, friends and fans at Ice World. The local girls did a good job in their three games, scored three goals and earned a 1-1 tie with Boise Junior Steelheads in the finale.
Scoring goals for coaches Dave Hennessy and Jen Embree were Devan Ellison Annan and Tanner Dredge (2). Katie Pruett and Mattie Griswold added assists. Game pucks went to Annan, Nellie Brown, Dylan Peterson and Trista Ballou, with defenseman Dredge earning the tournament jersey.
Goalie Emma Wilander made some incredible saves. Other skaters were Aimee Evans, Lydia Gorham, Erin Hennessy, Kelly Hennessy, Frannie Sensenbrenner, Daniela Stokes and Hailey Zanes.
