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Sports Oakville Beaver By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2010 17 First day of RB finals yields two local gold Minor atom AA, AE Rangers win titles Two local rep teams won championships and two more reached finals Tuesday at the Richard Bell Memorial Minor Hockey Tournament. The minor atom AA Rangers won their third tournament title of the season, blanking North Toronto 4-0 in the final at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Oakville's minor atom AE team, meanwhile, continued its dominant season with a 3-2 victory over the Barrie Colts in its championship game. The minor peewee A and minor atom A Rangers were denied championships earlier in the day, both dropping tight decisions to opponents from Burlington. The Richard Bell tournament continued Wednesday, with finals scheduled in minor peewee, minor bantam and minor midget competition. See Wednesday's edition of The Oakville Beaver for coverage of games involving local teams. Minor atom AA After getting out to an early lead against North Toronto, the minor atom AA Rangers knew they couldn't afford to let up. Oakville protected a 2-0 lead into the third period and then salted the game away with two late goals by captain Aidan Child. North Toronto had come from behind to win in all four of its round-robin games, a fact Rangers coach Craig Gaskin and his players were well aware of. "Once our guys got ahead, they really put the gas down. They really poured it on," said Gaskin. "We knew (North Toronto) was such a strong team, we had to keep going hard." Defenceman Eric Cerantola had Oakville's first goal, scoring on a screen shot from the blue line. Alex Payne gave the Rangers a two-goal advantage, converting a cross-ice pass from linemate Alex Di Paolo. Rangers goaltender Sam Gaskin earned the shutout, stopping a North Toronto breakaway in the first period and a good close-in chance in the second. The Rangers have won two other tournaments this season, but Cerantola said this one was the sweetest win. "Because it's our home and because it's one of the biggest tournaments we're going to play in this year," said the Ecole Sainte-Marie CHAMPIONSHIP FORM: The Oakville minor atom AA and minor atom AE Rangers both won Richard Bell Memorial Minor Hockey Tournament championships Tuesday. In top photo, minor atom AE player Aiden Williams scores against the Barrie Colts. Left, minor atom AA goaltender Sam Gaskin makes a save on his way to a shutout. PHOTOS BY ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER See Minor page 18