In the championship game Sunday afternoon, the 4-0 Crushers battled a tough Dartmouth Whalers team and lost 8-4.
Jayden Hatchard opened the scoring for Pictou County on an assist from Kyle Reim, before Dartmouth scored three straight goals.
Reim cut the deficit to 3-2, with assists to Hatchard and Evan Reynolds, but the Whalers would tack on three more in the second.
Brycen MacDonald and Luke Young scored two in the third to make it 6-4, giving Pictou County some hope, but Dartmouth got two late goals to clinch gold.
Brayden Killen and Logan DeCoste played solid defence for the entire tournament.
After Friday wins over the Antigonish Bulldogs and Sydney Steelers, the Crushers earned their third straight win against the Strait Richmond Pirates on Saturday. Chapman, Reim, Hatchard, Sam Hickey, Brycen MacDonald, and Spencer Murray scored for the Crushers. Assists went to Reynolds (2), Hickey, Evan Shea, Reim, Jansen Langille, Ian MacDonald and Thomas Devine. MacEachern earned the shutout in goal. Player of the Game was awarded to Nole Chapman.
The Crushers made it to the final with a dramatic overtime win over the Sydney Steelers in the crossover round on Sunday morning.
They trailed 2-0 in the second period, but Murray netted the Crushers first goal just before the end of the second with the assist from Ian MacDonald. The locals continued to battle, but time was running out. With the net empty, Chapman fired a quick shot that sent the game to overtime. Less than a minute into OT, Young netted the winner, earning the team a spot in the final. Chapman was named Player of the Game. Walker was solid between the pipes.
The Pictou County Bantam AA Crushers lost in their Sunday morning crossover, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the South Shore IceSharks. They had gone 3-0 in the round robin earlier in the tournament. South Shore lost to the Cape Breton County in the Bantam AA title game.
At the closing ceremonies for the Bantam A division, Hickey was named to the tournament all-star ream, MacEachern received the Gladwin Trophy for Best Goaltender, and Nole Chapman received the I.C.E. Award for the Pictou County Player who best exemplifies intensity, contribution and effort throughout the tournament.
