Dan Falloon
Thieves often go for a big heist instead of several small robberies.
Isaac Keffer’s local rink was the victim of such a crime last weekend, allowing only one steal in the final of the 2009-10 Nexcap Bantam boys’ provincial playdowns in Longlac.
But Tanner Horgan, of the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club in Sudbury, made the steal of two in the eighth end to secure an 8-5 victory over Keffer’s upstart rink to capture the tournament crown.
Keffer and his rink of third Cody Ossachuk, second Cody Heyens, and lead Ian Grant trailed 6-5 heading into the eighth end after Horgan notched one in the seventh, but then allowed the deuce to lose the game.
Still, Keffer came home satisfied, having earned a trip to Gravenhurst for the Ontario Winter Games on March 3-7.
The top three teams from the provincials advanced, so Horgan and Port Arthur’s Jordan Potter emerged from Longlac, as well.
“We just need to play more games as a team, play more tournaments together,” Keffer said of his rink, which is just in its first full season together.
The rink had a tendency to give up big ends, allowing teams to score three in an end in six of their seven games over the weekend. But Keffer said his crew is working to keep the opponents’ scores to a minimum.
“We usually like to keep [the house] clean,” he explained. “We don’t really like it when there’s tons of rocks in play.
“It could get dangerous.”
Keffer actually got off to a good start in his final match-up against Horgan, scoring singles in the first two ends, but Horgan stormed ahead in the third with a three-ender.
Keffer came back with a pair in the fourth to surge ahead 4-3, but Horgan charged back with two of his own in the fifth.
After Keffer tied it at 5-5 with a single in the sixth, Horgan wrapped it up with one in the seventh and then the key steal of two in the eighth and final end.
The final actually was a two-match affair as the undefeated Horgan had to be knocked off twice for Keffer to claim the championship.
And his rink did just that in Sunday’s first draw, pummelling Horgan 8-4 to get another crack at first place.
Keffer enthused that his team made more critical shots in the win than in the losses, taking advantage of Horgan’s weaknesses more than in the other match-ups.
“We were just playing how we usually play, I guess,” he observed. “We just tried harder.”
Keffer had tied with Potter with a 3-2 record in the round-robin, but advanced to the final against Horgan by virtue of his 8-5 victory over Potter in his first game of the tournament.
After Keffer counted a single in the first end, Potter tallied three in the second. But Keffer came right back with a trio of his own.
Then after stealing a pair in the fourth to lead 6-3, he then slid a pair in between singles by Potter to win 8-5.
In his second game, Keffer fell 5-4 to Horgan.
Keffer again started with a single in the first, but Horgan tied it with one in the third before taking the lead on a steal of three in the fourth.
The rinks traded singles in the fifth and six end, and Keffer put up one in both the seventh and eighth, but could not earn the equalizer.
He rebounded in his third game, though, knocking off Geraldton’s Brady Trottier 6-4.
Keffer again scored first, putting up a deuce in the opening end while Trottier counted one in the second.
Keffer countered with a single in the fourth before allowing Trottier to take a 4-3 lead by giving up three in the fifth.
But Keffer regained the advantage in the seventh, tallying a pair before locking down the victory with a steal of one in the eighth.
The local rink fell to 2-2 on Saturday after suffering an 8-2 pounding at the hands of Mindemoya’s Evan Sheppard, which was Sheppard’s only victory of the weekend.
Sheppard was in control for the entire game, scoring two in the first and not looking back.
Keffer put up a single in the second, but Sheppard tallied two in the fourth and stole one in the fifth to grab a 5-1 lead.
Keffer got another single in the sixth, but Sheppard made things official by taking three in the seventh.
Faced with a must-win situation to advance against Soo Curlers Association’s Joshua Vanderburg, who also was 2-2 at the time, Keffer rebounded, thrashing his way to a 9-3 victory.
The local rink tallied three in the first end while Vanderburg responded with just one in the second.
After Keffer notched singles in the third and fourth, Vanderburg tightened things up with two in the fifth.
But Keffer busted things wide open from there, counting three in the sixth before stealing one in the seventh to advance to the final against Horgan.
