Staff
The Judy LaBelle rink from Fort Frances had mixed results yesterday during the opening day of action at the Northern Ontario senior women’s provincial playdowns in Kapuskasing.
LaBelle, who is joined by third Wendy Brunetta, second Maureen Thomson, and lead Trudy Badiuk, fell 9-5 to Marion Clark (Thunder Bay) in their first game yesterday afternoon, but bounced back in the evening draw with a 9-6 triumph over Danielle McLeod (Elliot Lake).
Sudbury’s Vicky Barrett tops the seven-team field going into today’s round-robin action with a perfect 2-0 record.
In their loss to Clark, the LaBelle foursome actually led 5-2 following the fifth-end break, but gave up three points in the sixth end.
Then they allowed a steal of two in the seventh to fall behind for good.
After trading singles in the first two ends against McLeod, LaBelle stole single points in the next three to go up 4-1.
McLeod stormed back with a single in the sixth and a steal a two in the seventh to tie the game back up.
But LaBelle regained the lead with three in the eighth and never looked back.
The Fort Frances rink was back in action this morning against Barrett, then will face Anne Cryderman (Sudbury) this afternoon and Barb McEwen (Thunder Bay) tonight.
LaBelle will conclude her round-robin slate tomorrow afternoon against Darla Esch (North Bay).
The top two teams will advance to the final Sunday afternoon, with the winner representing Northern Ontario at the national championships March 17-24 in Abbotsford, B.C.
