Lucas Punkari
Even though they hadn’t curled together in nearly a year, the former Muskie rink of skip Tirzah Keffer, third Samantha Mueller, second Taylor Hartlin, and lead Carley Busch picked up right where they left off at the Fort Frances Curling Club this past weekend.
The rink successfully defended their ladies’ bonspiel title they earned a year ago after beating Charlotte Bazylewski 10-4 in seven ends in the ‘A’ final Saturday night.
“This feels pretty awesome,” enthused Keffer, who currently is attending school in Thunder Bay.
“It’s great to come back and play with the girls once again,” she noted. “And even though we haven’t curled [together] in nearly year, when we were out there it felt like we were curling together [just] two days ago.”
After moving through the ‘A’ bracket with relative ease, the Keffer rink found themselves in their toughest match of the weekend in the final against Bazylewski, with the two teams tied 4-4 after five ends.
“Early on we were making half-shots out there,” said Keffer. “And in the first end, she stole two points on us as we weren’t playing well at all as we were trying to read the ice.
“But as the game went along, we both traded singles back and forth, and it made for a really tight game out there,” she added.
The tide quickly shifted in Keffer’s direction in the sixth end, however, scoring a four-ender to break the game wide open.
“We were just hitting and hitting, and I don’t think we had to throw a draw until my last shot,” recalled Keffer, who was lying six at one point.
“They were just unable to get the hits that they needed in that end.
“And because of that, they had to keep drawing into the house and we just kept hitting their rocks out,” she added.
In the seventh end, Bazylewski had a chance to cut into the four-point deficit on her final shot. But her draw attempt through the port crashed into a guard in front of the house, allowing Keffer rink to score two points and capture the title for a second-straight year.
Although Saturday’s triumph is the only appearance in a local event that Keffer will be making this season, she still is busy with her curling in Thunder Bay.
“Our team, which has a new second that will be playing for us next year, is currently playing at the Port Arthur Curling Club in the Tuesday and Thursday night men’s league games,” she explained.
“Plus, we are already planning on entering bonspiels for next year and also working on our off-season training plans, so we will be keeping busy,” Keffer added.
Other winners in the ladies’ bonspiel included Peggy Loyie (‘B’-event), Sylvia Smeeth (‘C’-event) and Jackie Windigo (‘D’-event).
The final major event of the season at the Fort Frances Curling Club is slated to get underway this Friday night as the annual men’s bonspiel will take place.
Rinks interested in entering are asked to contact club manager Rick Grenda at 274-6667.
