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Sports Briefs: McKinnon, Team Ontario win Silver Stick Sled Final in Michigan

March 25, 2026

Barry Wright/The Independent

Oil Springs’ Cash McKinnon and Team Ontario blanked Montreal, 2-0 in the championship contest to capture the Tier 1 title at the Silver Stick Sled Finals in Grand Rapids, Michigan last weekend.

The win avenged a 1-0 loss to Montreal in the preliminary round.

Ontario beat Pittsburgh and New York in pool play and went 3-1 overall.

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Mooretown and Petrolia have both won Shamrock League U18 championship banners.

The Flags beat East Lambton, 3-1 to capture the tier one title and Petrolia needed triple overtime to win the tier two championship over Lambton Shores.

The Oilers advance to the OMHA tournament in Halton Hills this weekend. The Flags and Eagles are both going to the provincial event in Kingston from April 3-5.

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Petrolia blanked Tillsonburg, 5-0 to capture the U9 MD Tier 2 championship at the Silver Stick tournament in Ayr.

The Oilers were 3-0-1 in the preliminary round and shutout Norfolk, 5-0 in the semi-finals to reach the championship contest.

Meantime, Lambton Shores won six consecutive games to win the U9 tier 1 title at the same event.

After going 4-0 in the pool play, the Preds doubled Lambeth, 4-2 in the semi-finals and then outscored Paris, 8-4 for the championship banner.

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Wyoming’s Ty Kerr was part of the goaltending duo that backstopped the Sarnia Sting to the U16 AA Alliance championship with a win over St. Thomas.

The Sting beat the Stars in four straight games for the title.

Reaching the finals took a herculean effort as the Sting rallied from two games down to beat Woodstock in five games in the first round of the postseason.

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Corunna’s Lynkoln Gavigan and Sarnia’s Andrew Watson and Evan Glaister are on the Chatham-Kent Cyclones under-15 team that has advanced to the AAA championship this weekend in Komoka.

CK will open the championship tournament on Friday morning against the host Elgin Middlesex Canucks. Puck drop is 10:15.

The Canucks roster also has a local flavour with Sarnia’s Taeo and Jace Maola and Luke Walls on it.

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Camlachie’s Avery Robinson and her University of Guelph Gryphons finished fourth at the U Sports women’s hockey championship tournament in Elmira last weekend.

The Gryphons fell short, 2-1 to the University of New Brunswick in the bronze medal contest.

Meantime, Corunna’s Reagan Samson and the University of Ottawa lost 2-0 to the University of British Columbia in the consolation semi-finals.

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A pair of players from the Mooretown Lady Flags U11 B teams won gold medals with the Oneida First Nation at the recent Little NHL tournament in Markham.

Ivy Snake of Aamjiwnaang had five shutouts and was the winning goaltender in the 5-2-championship contest victory.

Declan Biggers from Wikwemikong First Nation had two goals and five assists for the winning team.

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Keegan Decaluwe and the Adrian Bulldogs reached the final of the ACHA Division 1 Nationals in St. Louis last week.

Going into the final with a 4-0 record, the ‘Dogs fell 3-1 to Ohio University for the championship.

Decaluwe, from Port Franks and a graduate of Lambton Shores minor hockey, had a goal and two assists over the week long tournament.

He averaged nearly a point per game in the regular season with 13 goals and 35 points in 36 games for the Michigan school.

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Camlachie’s Layla Mackenzie can call herself a finalist in the Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) women’s basketball tournament in suburban Montreal.

Mackenzie and her Fanshawe College Falcons won silver on the weekend bowing to the Vancouver Island Mariners, 72-58 in the championship contest Saturday.

The St. Pat’s grad had 10 points in the final and averaged nearly 14 points per game at the national event.

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Core Jackson poked a base hit to left field in one of his three at bats for the Yankees in their Spring Breakout game against the Braves in Florida last Saturday.

Jackson, from Wyoming, also scored a run and played the field at both shortstop and third base.

The LCCVI grad was a fifth round pick by the Pinstripes in the MLB draft last July out of the University of Utah.

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