Staff
Mathew Armstrong’s rink from the Stratton Curling Club will represent Rainy River District at the Northern Ontario Bantam boys’ provincial playdowns coming up here Feb. 2-5.
Armstrong, whose team includes third RJ McDonald, second Jake Vandenbrand, and lead Cody Armstrong, captured the Region 1 berth Saturday at their home club after defeating Chris Silver of the Fort Frances Curling Club in a pair of very different games.
Silver, whose team included third Jason Bazylewski, second Matt Nowak, and lead Kurt McGuire, led 5-3 after the fifth end in Saturday morning’s opener.
But Armstrong earned a single point with the hammer in the sixth end, then stole two points in the seventh to jump ahead 6-5.
Despite having last rock in the eighth and final end, Silver gave up another steal to fall 7-5.
The afternoon rematch proved to be a dominating affair for Armstrong, who scored four points in the first end and three more in the second to jump out to an early 7-0 lead.
Although Silver eventually cut the gap to 8-3, the Stratton foursome put the game out of reach by scoring a six-ender in the seventh to win 14-3.
Next up for the Armstrong rink is the provincial playdowns, with their first game slated for Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. against Tanner Horgan (Sudbury).
The playdowns will feature a round-robin format that will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 9 a.m., with tiebreakers set for that afternoon (if necessary).
In related news, the Jessica Haw rink from Stratton, which included third Maria Vandenbrand, second Elyssa Hughes, and lead Nicole Hartlin, competed at the Region 1 Bantam girls’ playdowns in Sioux Lookout over the weekend.
Unfortunately, Haw finished in second place in the three-team double round-robin with a 2-2 record.
Jenna Poirier of Sioux Lookout nabbed the provincial berth.
