Lucas Punkari
In a showdown between Fort Frances Curling Club rinks last night, it was Judy LaBelle coming away with an 9-8 win over Roz Broman in the second draw of the senior women’s provincial playdowns here.
After jumping out to a 9-2 lead through five ends, LaBelle watched as Broman clawed her way back to within a single point going into the 10th and final end.
But when Broman’s draw attempt with her last rock came up shor, it allowed last year’s provincial runners-up to come away with the win—and lead the seven-team round-robin with a 2-0 mark.
“The bottom line is I just didn’t curl very well,” admitted LaBelle, who is joined by third Mary Beth Tkachuk, second Teresa McFayden, lead Kris Sinclair, and fifth Trudy Badiuk.
“The rest of the team was curling great, but I just wasn’t matching them,” she noted.
“And the other team came right back on us and just about got us in the end.”
It was close for the first couple of ends before LaBelle stole five in the fourth to jump out to a commanding 8-2 lead.
“It was just a few misses on take-outs and one heavy draw, and it was all over,” said Broman, whose rink includes third Kim Roy, second Cindy McKinnon, and lead Bev Thomson.
“We play against Judy all the time in club play, so it was a good fun game tonight against them, and all you can do is just got out and do your best,” reasoned Broman, who finished the opening day with a 1-1 mark.
LaBelle opened play yesterday afternoon with a 9-3 win in eight ends over Barb McEwen (Port Arthur), thanks largely to a steal of four in the fourth which gave the Fort Frances crew a 7-0 lead.
Broman also opened with a win, earning a 10-5 victory in just six ends over Roma Lundgren (Idylwylde).
Both local rinks were back in action this morning, with LaBelle doubling Marion Clark (Port Arthur) 8-4 while Broman was dumped 11-2 by McEwen in nine ends.
Broman has two more games today—first facing Barbara Ward (Port Arthur) in the afternoon draw before meeting Clark this evening.
LaBelle had a bye in the afternoon draw, then will take on Lundgren tonight.
On the men’s side, the six-team round-robin got underway last night with Ian Fisher (Sault Ste. Marie), Ken Anderson (Red Lake), and Bruce Munro (Idylwylde) all opening with wins.
Round-robin action will continue through Saturday, with the respective finals getting underway Sunday at 1 p.m.
At stake is a trip to the Canadian seniors’ playdowns March 19-26 in Digby, N.S.
