Lorne Jackson was banking on his team rebounding from a trying season to make it to back to the provincial playdowns.
But by the time he threw his final stone at the northwesterns last week in Thunder Bay, it was abundantly clear he wasn’t even going to be around to play on Saturday.
Jackson’s dream of a return to the provincial stage turned into a nightmare as the Fort Frances skip, along with his team of third Don DeBenedet, second Derek Jackson, and lead Wayne Beacham, fell 8-5 to Ken Anderson (Red Lake) in one of the ‘C’-side semi-finals Friday night.
That loss kept the local crew from even reaching the double-knockout round Saturday and Sunday, which saw eight rinks (pared down from the original 16 after the triple-knockout portion) battle for the three provincial berths up for grabs.
“It was our worst showing at districts ever,” the subdued skip said. “We’ve always made it to the final eight.
“We struggled with our shot-making,” he noted. “We also had a tough time with the ice. It was very fast to what we’re used to, and very straight.
“That’s not good for our game.”
< *c>Early-warning signs
Trouble was brewing for Jackson right from the get-go as he fell 7-2 to Jeff Zechner (Nipigon) in his opening game Thursday afternoon.
Leading 2-1 after five ends, Zechner manufactured steals in the sixth and seventh ends to go up by three.
After Jackson only managed one with last-rock advantage in the eighth, Zechner not only took the hammer back, but he hit Jackson over the head with it by scoring a three-ender in the ninth.
“We’d beat Jeff every time before this,” said Jackson. “In the ninth, we had to gamble to get back into it. In situations like that, you’re either going to score one or give up a big end.”
Dropping down to the ‘B’ side with the loss, Jackson then took it on the chin from Murray Affleck (Kenora) by a 10-4 count on Thursday night.
Affleck wasted little time messing things up for Jackson, scoring the first of a trio of three-enders in the first, then stealing one in the second to lead 4-0.
Trailing 7-1 after five, Jackson scored a deuce in the sixth and then stole one in the seventh, but another three by Affleck in the eighth brought the game to a sudden stop.
“The ice was bad that night,” recalled Jackson. “Between both teams, I think we lost about five rocks. It was a matter of who could get in the house first.”
Down to his last chance early Friday afternoon, Jackson bought himself one more life by overcoming Ken Blackwood (Terrace Bay) by a 6-5 margin.
With the game tied 3-3 after six ends, Jackson scored a three-ender in the seventh. But Blackwood wouldn’t go away, scoring singles in the eighth and ninth before running out of rocks in the 10th.
“We had a great game against Blackwood,” said Jackson. “We thought we had turned things around.”
That was not the case, though, as Anderson jumped to the lead Friday night and never looked back, running Jackson out of rocks in the 10th to end his stay in Thunder Bay.
“We hadn’t played [Anderson] at the districts since 1998,” noted Jackson. “They just outshot us.”
Jackson’s team will have one more chance to add some positives to their disappointing season when they attend the annual “last chance” bonspiel in Hibbing on the first weekend of April.
For now, there’s no thought on his part for any radical roster changes.
“It just happens that you have some good times and some bad times in this sport, and these are some bad times,” he reasoned. “[DeBenedet] might go play seniors next year, but I think we’ll be back. I think we’ll stay together.”
< *c>Carving their niche
The weekend went significantly better for Thunder Bay’s Bruce Melville, whose rink had qualified for the northwesterns by winning the Zone 7 crown at the Fort Frances Curling Club while representing the Atikokan Curling Club—though none of the team actually hails from there.
While they could have been accused of using a loophole to reach the district playdowns by competing in a less challenging area, the Melville foursome (which had competed here under the name of third Rob Shubat) proved their worth when it counted.
The quartet beat Bryan Burgess (Thunder Bay) 8-6 in one of the two ‘A’-side finals to earn one of the three berths for the provincials Feb. 4-10 in Sault Ste. Marie.
He will be joined by Jeff Currie and Denis Malette (both of the Port Arthur Curling Club).
Scott Henderson was handed his walking papers in a Saturday morning loss to Malette, which also kept the defending provincial champ from also making the final eight.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
