Bill Crewson (Fort Frances) and Andrea Lee (Stratton) failed to advance to the Canadian junior curling playdowns, finishing last in their respective divisions at the provincial finals last weekend in Sault Ste. Marie.
Crewson dropped his first two games en route to a 1-4 record in the six-team men’s field while Lee went winless in five games in the four-team, double round-robin women’s format.
Crewson opened action with an 8-5 loss to eventual champ Andrew Mikkelsen (Port Arthur), who avenged a 10-9 loss to the Fort Frances rink at the “Northwesterns” in Terrace Bay earlier this month.
Mikkelsen scored a pair in the fifth end, then stole one in the sixth to seal the victory.
Then after being doubled 6-3 by Neil Moir (Sault Ste. Marie), Crewson picked up his lone victory Saturday afternoon with an 11-3 thumping of Eric Ladoucer (Hearst) in just eight ends.
The Fort rink jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after two ends, then increased their lead to 7-3 through seven before breaking the game wide open with four more in the eighth
But Crewson then lost 9-8 to Damien Villard (Sudbury), surrendering a 7-5 lead at the end of sixth by giving up two in the seventh and a steal of two in the eighth.
Crewson managed to get one back in the ninth but couldn’t get the equalizer in the 10th.
That loss eliminated Crewson from playoff contention.
He then closed out the round-robin with a 8-0 whitewash at the hands of Ed Jackson (Gore Bay). Crewson gave up a single in the first and a steal of four in the second, then one in the third and two more in the four.
Crewson’s rink included Chris Matheson (third), Tyler Bell (second), Joel Perron (lead), and Mathew Gushulak (fifth).
Mikkelsen, who finished the round-robin portion with a perfect 5-0 record, advanced to the nationals Jan. 24 to Feb. 1 in Calgary with an 8-4 win over Villard (3-2) in the final Sunday, scoring four in the first end to jump out to the early lead.
Then leading 5-4 after seven, Mikkelsen broke the game open with a single in the eighth and a steal of two in the ninth.
Jackson, Ladoucer and Moir each finished in a three-way tie for third with 2-3 records.
Lee, meanwhile, opened with a 10-5 loss to eventual champ Elaine Uhryn (Port Arthur), letting a 4-1 lead in the fifth end slip away.
Lee then dropped a 11-4 decision to Dawna Premo (Sault Ste. Marie) and 13-5 to Kristen Ramakko (North Bay) to finish the first round of the round-robin.
In the loss to Premo, Lee surrendered two in each of the first three ends and then another deuce in the fifth to trail 8-1 after five.
But the Stratton skip fought back, scoring two in the sixth and a single in the seventh to close the gap to 8-4 before giving up three in the eighth to end the game.
Then in the second round-robin portion, Lee, whose rink included Angela Lee (third), Danielle Shrumm (second) and Sabrina Anderson (lead), lost 7-3 to Uhryn and then 12-8 to Premo.
Her final game against Ramakko was not played.
Uhryn, who finished the double round-robin at 5-1, defeated Premo 9-5 in the final to advance to Calgary.
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