Staff
Just two teams remained on the ‘A’-side heading into this afternoon’s 2 p.m. draw at the NOCA men’s provincial curling playdowns here.
Mike Jakubo (Copper Cliff) overcame a 6-1 deficit after three ends to down Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie) 10-7 while Al Belec (Sault Ste. Marie) edged Mike Pozihun (Thunder Bay) 7-6 in the ‘A’-side semi-finals last night.
Jakubo and Belec the squared off this afternoon, with the winner becoming the first qualifier for Saturday’s Page playoffs.
Meanwhile, two rinks were eliminated from further competition last night while three more were sent packing this morning.
Cory Nephin (Geraldton) lost 10-4 to Claude Lapointe (McIntyre) in seven ends last while Murray Affleck (Keewatin) fell 7-4 to Robert Thomas (Sault Ste. Marie).
In this morning’s 9 a.m. draw, Tim Phillips (Sudbury) eliminated Chris Johnson (Blind River) 8-3 in eight ends, Mike Assad (Thunder Bay) knocked out Lapointe 8-6, and Thomas staved off elimination with a 7-6 win over Brian Adams Jr. (Thunder Bay).
Adams’ second, Trevor Bonot, is a native of Stratton.
Another rink with local connections still was in the hunt, however, as Art Lappalainen (Thunder Bay), whose second is Fort Frances product Rob Sinclair Jr., beat Thomas 8-2 and Assad 6-5 in their two ‘B’-side games after losing their opener 7-5 to Matt Dumontelle (Sudbury) on Tuesday.
The Lappalainen rink met Bryan Burgess (Thunder Bay) in a ‘B’-side quarter-final meeting in today’s 2 p.m. draw.
The 16-team event continues through Saturday night at the Fort Frances Curling Club, with the winner advancing to the Tim Hortons Brier early next month in Calgary.
