Staff
It’s likely Atikokan won’t make the list of favourite places to go for Tirzah Keffer and Ethan Jordbro anytime soon.
The two Fort Frances Curling Club skips had a rough ride there over the weekend at the Nexcap Northern Ontario Curling Association Inter-Regions 1 and 2 junior playdowns.
Keffer and her rink of third Samantha Mueller, second Carley Bush, lead Taylor Hartlin, fifth Karleigh Wright, and coach David Bondett finished tied for third in the four-team girls’ field with a 1-4 record.
Meanwhile, Jordbro and third Isaac Keffer, second Peter Jensen, lead Cody Heyens, fifth Travis Bois, and coach Tom Fry had to settle for sixth out of seven teams on the boys’ side with a mark of 2-4.
Keffer opened action Friday in fine style with a 9-5 victory over Megan Westlund of the Port Arthur Curling Club (Thunder Bay).
The locals gave up one in the first, took two in the second, and then gave up a deuce to trail 3-2 after three ends.
After blanking the next two ends, Keffer picked up one in the sixth before burning Westlund for a steal of three in the seventh to move ahead 6-3.
Westlund tried fighting back with one in the eighth and a steal of one in the ninth, but Keffer slammed the door shut with three in the 10th to seal the win.
Next up for the Fort squad was a Saturday affair against another Port Arthur skip and the eventual runner-up, Kimberly Zsakai.
Things were going swimmingly for Keffer early, scoring a pair in the first and stealing two in the second to grab a quick 3-0 lead.
Zsakai scored singles in the fourth and fifth, which were matched by Keffer in the sixth and seventh ends to make it 5-2.
Then the roof caved in, with Zsakai tying it with three in the seventh. She then stole singles in the eighth and ninth before running Keffer out of rocks in the 10th for the 7-5 win.
The same two rinks squared off again only hours later in the double round-robin event and it was almost a mirror image of their first meeting, with Zsakai pulling away late again for an 8-5 triumph.
Keffer’s deuce in the seventh broke a 3-3 tie and had her in good shape. But Zsakai bounced back with three in the eighth and then single steals in the ninth and 10th to leave the Fort crew in their rear-view mirror.
Matters didn’t improve in Keffer’s next two games—7-4 and 9-2 losses against eventual champion Sarah Lang (Fort William Curling Club), who finished with a perfect 5-0 record to qualify along with Zsakai for the provincial playodowns slated Dec. 19-21 at Lang’s home rink.
In the first meeting Saturday night, Keffer jumped out to a 3-1 lead after three ends—only to watch Lang storm back with one in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a one-point lead.
The Fort William quartet then stole another in the seventh to go up 5-3.
Keffer could only score one with the hammer in the eighth, with Lang sealing the deal with singles in the ninth and 10th.
Their rematch Sunday morning never went the distance as Lang blew open a 1-1 tie with a huge five-ender in the third and a steal of one in the fourth.
Keffer managed one in the fifth, but it was handshakes all around after Lang notched another deuce in the sixth.
The Fort rink then was supposed to face Westlund in their final round-robin game later Sunday. But with both teams already eliminated from contention and each facing sizable drives home, the mutual decision was made not to play it.
Finishing strong
In boys’ action, Jordbro and Co. dug themselves too deep of a hole after losing their first four games, but did close their weekend on a positive note with back-to-back wins.
Eventual champion Christian Tolusso (Port Arthur Curling Club) didn’t make Jordbro’s initial day in Atikokan a pleasant one, vaulting to a 4-0 lead after three ends and then bringing an abrupt halt to the proceedings with three in the sixth to collect a 7-1 win on Thursday.
Jordbro’s team was in much better shape in their opening game Friday, grabbing a 3-1 edge on another Port Arthur rink, Brennan Wark.
But Wark strung together three-straight singles in the next three ends to earn his first lead at 4-3 after six.
Jordbro tied it in the seventh, but Wark tallied one in the eight, stole one in the ninth, and then held Jordbro to one in the 10th to escape with the narrow 6-5 win.
Dylan Johnston (Port Arthur), who tied Tolusso with a 5-1 record to become the second qualifier for the provincials, was tested by Jordbro for three ends Friday evening. But the 2-2 game turned in the fourth when Johnston scored three.
Jordbro’s single in the fifth was followed by a Johnston deuce and the Fort side’s subsequent surrender to close out the 7-3 victory.
Next up for Jordbro was Joshua Szajewski (Keewatin Curling Club) in what was a suspenseful Saturday confrontation through eight ends with the teams tied at 5-5.
But Szajewski used a five-ender to sink the Fort team’s ship and claim an eventual 10-5 win.
The rocks finally started sliding Jordbro’s way in a 10-5 win over Nathan Ransom (Sioux Lookout Golf and Country Club) on Saturday night.
Jordbro’s crew unleashed their frustrations on Ransom’s team, which finished last at the event with an 0-6 record.
A pair in the first and a three-spot in the third put Jordbro up 5-1, with steals of two in the fourth and one more in the fifth stretching the lead to seven.
Ransom scored three in the sixth, but another deuce by Jordbro in the seventh made it 10-4.
Ransom waved the white flag after collecting only one in the eighth.
It would have been easy for the Fort team to mail in the effort on their last game against Port Arthur skip Tim Focht. But after giving up three in the second to fall behind 3-1, Jordbro scored three of his own in the third.
When Focht delivered a pair in the fourth, Jordro countered with singles in the fifth and sixth to lead 6-5.
Focht tied it with one in the ninth, but Jordbro used his last rock in the 10th to full advantage to score one and pull out the 7-6 win to wrap up the weekend.
