Joey Payeur
Firmly in the underdog role, Chris Silver and his Fort Frances rink wanted to keep the game as close as they could for as long as they could.
That lasted all of one end in the face of the tornado that is Tanner Horgan.
The Sudbury rink scored six in the first end last night en route to a 12-1, six-end romp over Silver at the bantam boys’ provincial championship hosted by the Fort Frances Curling Club.
The hometown crowd that packed the upstairs lounge hoped Silver (1-1) and his team of third Myron Armstrong, second Daniel Vandenbrand, and lead Davis Jackson could build off their opening 5-4 win over Michael Masters (Sault Ste. Marie) in the afternoon.
But Horgan (2-0), fresh off his second-straight provincial junior men’s crown, jumped all over the local quartet from the get-go as he tries to capture the Bantam title that eluded him last year when he lost in the final.
In the pivotal first end, Silver was a tad heavy on a draw with his final stone—leaving Horgan a take-out that paid off with a handsome half-dozen.
“It didn’t curl enough,” Silver said ruefully about his misfire.
“We’re happy to be here and it feels good to be here,” he added.
“For what they’ve accomplished, it’s always nice to play them [Horgan] and we always learn from them.”
The afternoon draw saw Silver draw for three in the first to give his team the early lead.
Masters got as close as 4-3 after a deuce in the fifth.
The two teams then exchanged singles in the sixth and seventh before the Fort crew ran Masters out of rocks in the eighth.
“We got the early three and then just kept plugging along,” Silver noted.
“It was our game at that point and we just had to defend the lead.”
Silver took on Isaiah Warkentin of Kenora (1-1) this morning (the outcome was unavailable at press time).
They squared off against Christopher Perozak of Kakabeka Falls (2-0) at 2:30 p.m., then will face Sudbury’s Max Cull (1-1) at 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the news was not so good for the Fort-based rink at the Bantam girls’ provincial championship in Thessalon.
Skip Erin Tomalty (who hails from Nestor Falls) and her team of Anika Beaudry (third), Tory Beaudry (second), and Katrina Slomke (lead) are alone in the basement at 0-3 after today’s first draw after losing 10-0 in six ends to Tiana Gaudry of Thunder Bay (2-1).
Tomalty gave up back-to-back deuces in the first two ends, then three straight singles before a three-ender by Gaudry ended the game.
Tomalty fell 9-4 to Emma Landry of New Liskeard (1-2) yesterday in her opening game.
Then last night, Tomalty allowed a steal of six in the first end to Cassidy Romyn (Sioux Lookout) and another single in the second to fall behind 7-0.
The Fort rink clawed their way back into the game with three in the third, then steals of one in the fourth, fifth, and sixth ends to pull within 7-6.
But Romyn (1-1) got one back in the seventh, then dropped the hammer on Tomalty with a steal of four in the eighth for a 12-6 win.
Tomalty battled Jessica Leonard of Sudbury (2-1) this afternoon.
Tonight’s draw will pit Tomalty against Hayley Horton of Blind River (1-2).
