Joey Payeur
Chris Silver saved himself a boatload of grief.
The Fort High third, playing skip for the boys’ team in relief of a resting Reece Jones for the final game of the NorWOSSA qualifier here yesterday, found himself on the cusp of posting the only Muskie defeat of the two-day event as he stared at a 6-3 deficit against St. Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) with one end to go.
But thanks to a combination of errors from the visitors and timely shot-making from his team, Silver used a hit-and-stick with his last stone to score four and pull out a 7-6 victory.
The win meant the Muskie boys (5-0), girls (3-0), and mixed (3-0) rinks went a perfect 11-for-11 on home ice and set themselves up as serious contenders at the NorWOSSA finals Feb. 23-24 in Sioux Lookout.
The boys’ and girls’ teams are reputed for good-naturedly ribbing each other about their performance, which explained the notable look of relief on Silver’s face when he avoided being the only Fort skip to lose at the playdowns—and the endless needling that would have ensued.
“We never gave up and played to the last stone,” noted Silver, who sat out yesterday morning’s 9-6 triumph over Red Lake while Jones skipped a quartet including third Kurt McGuire, second Jason Bazylewski, and lead Davis Jackson.
“Our hitting is probably the strongest part of our game right now,” he added.
The Muskie girls—featuring Hailey Beaudry skipping Nicole Hartlin at third, Erin Tomalty at second, and Tory and Anika Beaudry sharing lead duties—cruised to victory in their only game yesterday with a 13-3 seven-end hammering of Atikokan, which iced only three players for the match-up.
“It was definitely an advantage playing on home ice,” noted Hailey Beaudry.
“We knew more what to expect when it came to the ice.”
Meanwhile, the mixed team of skip Matthew Grant, third Anika Beaudry, co-seconds Matthew Nowak and Dawson Mihichuk, and lead Cassidy Jolicoeur also had an easy time of things yesterday—dumping Whitefish Bay 15-3.
“The team curled good,” said Grant.
“Our draws are really working right now, as well as our take-outs.”
In related news, the Muskie girls’ and boys’ rinks, minus Jackson, are be the same squads that will represent Northwestern Ontario at the Tim Hortons Bantam provincial championships, which begin Thursday in Sault Ste. Marie.
Hailey Beaudry’s rink will maintain their same positions while Silver will switch to the role of regular skip for the Bantam provincials, with Jones moving into the third position.
“We’re pretty pumped for [the] Bantam provincials,” Beaudry enthused.
“We’re pretty confident in ourselves and we know we can do well when we think we can.”
