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Curlers can’t take anything for ‘Granite’
Great curling was present, with a lot of different teams this second half, and when it comes down to the final games to determine the best. Well that just shows you what kind of curlers we have in our club. As we say in curling, playoffs presents a whole different atmosphere. You never underestimate any team, or take anything for “granite”. The early draw, also known as the championship side, resulted in a few big scoring wins from the heavy favorites; Team Kamstra, Team LaPlante and Team Thurston. Players watching from the upstairs could see both Peter Kamstra and Jody LaPlante stretching their necks to see how the other was doing. The competition between them is apparent, but having fun still remains to be key. If round one is the example of what’s to be expected, then we really have a great playoff series ahead. Skip Peter Kamstra and his team; Kevin Holloway, Lynn Jackson and Pat Schneider sit in first place after their cannonading win over Team Lus 14-1. Second place is shared by two teams; LaPlante and Thurston. Team Jody LaPlante, Jack and JC Cooke, and Bill Small on rink two came up with a solid win over Team Steenoek 7-1. Rink one featured our top lady skip Sherry Thurston and her team, who were matched up with Team Ahle. Thurston, with the hammer in the first couldn’t capitalize, so Ahle’s team stole the first point. Thurston bounced back in the second with a count of three, then stole four in the third and stole four again in the fourth. At the halfway point, it was turning out to be one of “those” nights for Ahle. Team Thurston never looked back from then on and went on to win 14-4. Skip Thurston quoted later on saying that, “it was definitely a team effort that got us the win.” Consolation Draw The late draw, which is the consolation championships, also resulted in a few big scoring games. Skip George Gerrits and his team Ray Cooper, Rick Parcels and Charles Levine, were on fire. They played against Team Boynton. Gerrits reaching a score of 20 (the score board only has numbers to 14) raised a few eyebrows to say the least. Team Boynton was hoping for some creative accounting, but ended up with a score of six after eighth ends. Skip Mike Sidon, along with Shellee Morning, Petra Sidon and Jim O’Quin (spare), was matched up with Team Petersen. The game started out normal, with the teams exchanging points in their respected ends. The third end was a strong one for Sidon, as they collected three. From this point, they cruised smoothly, gaining points and allowing Team Petersen one in the sixth. Finishing up 10-3 was simply producing take-outs, setting up guards, great brushing for come-arounds and well-placed freezes when needed. The whole team played strong and confident. The Groombridge versus Robinson game was an endfor end, back-and-forth type of game — the best type of game in curling. Skip Doug Groombridge with Betty O’Quin, Natalie Munro and Ian Broadhurst, were on the board first, taking a point in the first end and two more in the second. The third end switched to Robinson taking one. Both skips called on their teams early, speculating this to be a close game between each other. Skip Wilf Robinson, nursing a sore leg, really depended on his team of John Sowerby and Bob Munro to pick up the slack. Groombridge counted in the fourth and had them sitting with a 6-1 score. During the fifth, Robinson’s team counted two and brought the game within three. In the final end, Robinson needed three to tie. Groombridge needed the bell. Munro threw one to sit in the rings and set the end up. Skip Robinson’s first shot raised one of their guards in and tapped Munro’s stone (was already in) to count first and second shot, and left the shooter up front. Skip Groombridge, now breathing a little more heavily, took his shot, but failed to change too much for Robinson's second stone. Robinson’s last rock being brushed with full determination, made another raise and resulted in a count of three, and a tied game. A throw to the button or as they say in hockey “a shoot-out” was required to determine the winner. Robinson threw first and his stone stopped as a “biter” on the 12-foot ring. Groombridge facing the pressure, threw his stone and got a “mouthful” of the one-foot ring, stopping a whopping whole inch closer to the button than Robinson’s. Groombridge was the first to handshake for his nerve racking 7-6 win.
Team Larry Sheardown saw the win column last week, winning comfortably over Team Wright 10-5. The game between the two lady skips; Kaye Groen and Barb Cairns was a close one, but the win in the end went to Team Cairns 6-5. |
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