‘Bad breaks’ cost Lee at NWOSSAA

Playing together at the high school level for the last time, the Rainy River Owl rink–skipped by Angela Lee–would have liked to have finished on a winning note.
But their season screeched to a halt yesterday afternoon at the NWOSSAA playdowns in Marathon with a 7-6 loss to Nipigon-Red Rock, giving up a pair in the final end when her final stone was heavy and went through the house.
The loss left the defending all-Ontario champs with a 3-2 record, leaving them third in the six-rink field–and out of the running for another berth to the all-Ontarios.
Earning the two berths to the provincial showdown March 22-25 in Peterborough were first-place Nipigon-Red Rock (5-0) and second-place Marathon (4-1).
“I noticed all the teams were a bit stronger this year,” Lee said from Marathon immediately after their final game.
“Everything was working for us last year and this year we just weren’t getting the breaks,” she added, whose rink included Lisa Bolen, Sarah Boily, and Danielle Shrumm.
In fact, Lee was up 4-1 against Nipigon-Red Rock when she gave up a three-ender in the sixth.
“We played good. The first game we lost [against Marathon], we struggled, but we curled well today,” said Lee, whose rink was unstoppable a year ago.
“It is a little tough [to accept] because we knew we had two spots open [to all-Ontarios],” she added. “But once you win, then everybody is out to get you.”
Lee’s rink opened the playdowns strong–trouncing Red Lake 9-3 on Sunday night and then nipping Hillcrest 7-5 on Monday morning.
Against Red Lake, Lee broke the game open by scoring three in the fourth, then adding a steal of one in the fifth and steals of two more in each the sixth and seventh ends.
Leading 6-5 against Hillcrest, Lee iced the game with one in the final end.
But then they lost an important one to Marathon on Monday afternoon, letting a 7-6 lead in the final end slip away by giving up four.
Lee had fought back from a 5-1 deficit in the third, chipping away with deuces in the fourth, sixth, and seventh ends.
Then they improved to 3-1 with a 9-1 win over St. Ignatius on Monday night, icing the victory with three in the fourth and then a steal of four in the fifth.
The teams shook hands after that.