Five Bantam teams competed in a true round robin tournament in 100 Mile House from Feb. 4-6.
Two 100 Mile House teams, two Williams Lake teams and one Clearwater team battled it out with Williams Lake’s Mueller Electric Blackjacks, coached by Jonathan Jackson, coming in the back door to win the tournament.
All teams saw each other in games played Friday and Saturday. The Blackjacks played four games on Saturday, starting at 8:15 a.m. and ending at 8:15 p.m. and finished the round robin with a 1-1-2 record.
Sunday was a different story for the team, however, as they defeated the 100 Mile Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza (the team they tied in the round robin) in a Sunday 6 a.m. game to advance to the semi-final at 9:30 a.m.
And for the third time in recent history they faced their rivals from Clearwater. Clearwater had defeated the Blackjacks in the Williams Lake Bantam tournament in January and in the round robin in 100 Mile on Saturday.
Finally the Blackjacks prevailed and cranked out a decisive win with a score of 5-1.
This win brought them to the championship game at 1 p.m. against 100 Mile Mayvin Gas and Heat.
And in a tense, well-played game the Blackjacks fought to a 5-3 win over the team that won in their meeting the previous day.
The standings for the tournament were as follows: First place — Williams Lake Mueller Electric Blackjacks; second place — 100 Mile Mayvin Gas and Heat; third place — Clearwater; fourth place — Williams Lake Royal Canadian Legion; fifth place — 100 Mile Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza.
Despite player of the game awards being handed out in each match, Williams Lake coach Jackson said it was a solid effort from all of his players that won the tournament and, in his opinion, every player on the Blackjacks deserved player of the game recognition.