A second consecutive bronze medal at the B.C. High School senior girls rugby 7s championships was not to be for Vernon's Seaton Sonics.
Seaton finished fourth out of 16, dropping the bronze-medal game in Abbotsford, 33-0, to the Claremont Spartans of Victoria.
After going 2-0-1 in their preliminary round, the Sonics cruised to the semifinals with a 38-7 win over West Vancouver's Sentinel Spartan. In their final four encounter, Seaton dropped a 24-7 decision to Victoria's Oak Bay Secondary.
The Queen Margaret's Royals of Duncan won the gold-medal, defeating Oak Bay in the final.
BC HIGH SCHOOL BOYS RUGBY 7s
Vernon's Fulton Maroons finished fifth in Abbotsford after entering the 16-team provincials at the eighth-seed.
In pool play, Fulton defeated No. 9 seed Glenlyon Norfolk Gryphons of Victoria 7-0, No. 16 seed Kalamalka Lakers of Coldstream 15-7, but lost to the top seeded West Vancouver Highlanders17-5.
The Maroons finished second in their pool and advanced to the championship round, where they lost to the eventual gold medalists, the Belmont Bulldogs of Victoria, 26-17.
"We had a great game vs. Belmont who ended up being the class of the tournament," said Maroons head coach Mike Scheller.
Fulton was up 17-0 within the first four minutes of game. Finn Holliday opened the scoring, followed by tries from Alex Glover (who added a convert) and Zoel Willett.
"Belmont fought back and the score was 21-17 with about two minutes left in game," said Scheller. "We had a chance to score late, but we turned over the ball and Belmont ran in a try to seal the game."
Belmont defeated the G.P. Vanier Towhees of Courtenay in the championship game.
The Maroons concluded the tournament by beating the Langley Saints 28-5, and the Spectrum Community Thunder from Victoria, 26-14.
Fulton 7s was 22-4 for the season, the only four losses coming the teams that finished Nos. 1-4 in the provincials. Aberdeen Hall Gryphons of Kelowna, who beat Fulton in the Okanagan Valley final, won the provincial bronze medal.
"I can't say enough about these kids. It was one the best seasons I have had as a coach," said Scheller. "They worked super hard on a daily basis. We won games through toughness and smarts. It was a group that was positive with each other all season and they can be proud of their accomplishments. We won a lot of tough close games all year."
Willett was named to the Commissioners 15 at provincials, as Fulton's best player of the season.
"He was our energy guy all season, making tackles everywhere on the field," said the coach. "He was a great player in the rucks and he simply had a great season for us.
"Graduating players Lucas Horne as first receiver, Caleb Buffie at centre, and prop Rylan Stadnyk, all had great seasons for us as well. The program will miss them. Finn Holliday, as a Grade 11, led the Maroons in try scoring for 2025 and was a threat every time he touched the ball."
The Lakers ended up 15th, winning their final game of the tournament, 15-7, over the Peter Skene Ogden Eagles from 100 Mile House.
After going 0-3 in the round-robin, Kalamalka dropped a 28-10 decision to the Southridge Storm of Surrey, then fell 19-17 to the Sands Scorpions of North Delta.
