Staff
For four ends, Chris Silver was in line for one of the best birthday presents ever.
Then his team gift-wrapped the fifth end and the party was over.
Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan stole two in the fifth en route to a 5-2 victory over his Fort Frances opponents in the final of the Bantam boys’ provincial championship here yesterday afternoon.
Horgan and his team of third Jacob Horgan, second Maxime Blais, and lead Scott Foy finished with a perfect 8-0 record.
It also gave the reigning two-time provincial junior champs redemption after losing the Bantam provincial final last year.
“If I could do it again, I would have changed a couple of calls,” admitted Silver, who turned 16 yesterday.
“That was the turning point when they got the two,” he added.
“They weren’t making many mistakes after that.”
Silver and his rink of third Myron Armstrong, second Daniel Vandenbrand, and lead Davis Jackson made the final by surviving three must-win games in a row.
In Saturday afternoon’s final round-robin draw, Silver nailed a draw to the eight-foot that stopped just in time to give him a 6-5 win over Felix Lasalle (Timmins),
The win eliminated Lasalle and made Silver one of four teams tied for second at 4-3.
The Fort quartet dominated the tie-breaker Saturday night, beating Isaiah Warkentin (Kenora) 7-1 in six ends,
Then they blanked Christopher Perozak (Kakabeka Falls) 6-0 in seven ends in yesterday morning’s semi-final.
Meanwhile, Erin Tomalty of Nestor Falls and her Fort-based crew finished last at the Bantam girls’ provincial championship in Thessalon with a 1-6 record.
Tomalty played the first three games of the tournament with only third Anika Beaudry and lead Katrina Slomke because second Tory Beaudry was away on a Fort High trip to Quebec.
With her team back together, Tomalty pulled off an amazing comeback win over Jessica Leonard (Sudbury), charging back from a 6-0 deficit after four ends to win 8-6.
Sudbury’s Kira Brunton went undefeated to capture the title, beating Hayley Horton (Blind River) 7-4 in the final yesterday.
