Staff
One Muskie curling rink punched its ticket to the NWOSSAA playoffs yesterday while the other fell just short.
Tirza Keffer’s girls’ rink earned NorWOSSA silver yesterday at the Rainy River Curling Club, posting a 4-1 record during the round-robin.
But Ethan Jordbro was eliminated from further contention in the second-place tiebreaker against Rainy River in boys’ action, which was held in Stratton.
Keffer and her rink of third Samantha Mueller, second Carley Busch, and lead Taylor Hartlin rebounded from an opening loss Tuesday to eventual champion Sioux Lookout to reel off four-straight wins and claim the second NWOSSAA berth.
The Muskies began their streak by blanking Kenora 4-0 and then beating Atikokan 6-2.
The run to the silver medal was completed when they hammered host Rainy River 11-1 before edging St. Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) 6-4.
The black-and-gold now advance to the NWOSSAA championship slated March 7-9 at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay, with the winner there advancing to the all-Ontarios.
The Muskie boys, meanwhile, just missed out on NorWOSSA silver, losing a tiebreaker 10-4 to Rainy River yesterday at the Stratton Curling Club.
Fort High lost its first two games of the round-robin, dropping an 8-4 decision to Sioux Lookout and then 6-3 to Kenora before rebounding.
The black-and-gold knocked off Rainy River 5-3, then edged St. Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) 7-6 to force the playoff with Rainy River.
In the tiebreaker, Jordbro was down 6-4 without the hammer heading into the final end, when Rainy River scored four as the Jordbro rink was forced to gamble in an attempt to tie the score.
Jordbro’s rink included third Isaac Keffer, second Peter Jensen, and rotating leads Cody Heyens and Ian Grant.
