The Kootenay Savings Super League’s top teams battled to the final rock as two games went down to the wire.
Team Myron Nichol and Team Bedard Excavating, skipped by Deane Horning, got things started with a back and forth affair. Team Nichol started with a deuce, then both teams played extremely well without the hammer, forcing each other to take singles in the second, third, fourth and fifth ends, with Nichol leading 3-2.
The game changed drastically in the sixth, as Nichol was facing four Bedard stones with his last rock, all around the four-foot, but behind the tee-line. Attempting a narrow port freeze to get out of the end, his draw didn’t curl enough, chipping a guard, allowing Horning an open draw for a game changing five. Nichol kept fighting, with a deuce in seven, then had the tying rock guarded on the edge of the four-foot, that Skip Horning calmly outdrew to the button for an 8-6 Team Bedard win.
Team Bill VanYzerloo were relentless against Team Darrin Albo, with Albo facing multiple VanYzerloo stones every end. Team VanYzerloo stole two in the first, before Skip Albo, facing three more, made a highlight raise to the button for one in the second. Team Albo third, Dennis Schendler, made a cross ice double in the third, leading to a VanYzerloo blank. It was all Team VanYzerloo after that, scoring two in the fourth, then, as Albo needed a hand grenade to find his way to the button, stealing the fifth, sixth, and seventh ends for an 8-1 win.
Related read: Super League: van Yzerloo steals one from Nichol
Team Nathan Small and Team Rob Ferguson faced off in an exciting match. It was a defensive struggle to start, with Small forced to one in the first, followed by Ferguson taking one in the third after blanking the second. Team Small looked to control the game with a single in four and stealing two in the fifth, but Team Ferguson bounced back with their own deuce in the sixth, followed by Skip Rob making two perfect draws to a guarded button, stealing the seventh and eighth ends, and the game, for an exciting 5-4 victory.
Team Ken Fines tried to keep pace with Team Sitkum IT, skipped by Nando Salviulo, and for the first four ends, the teams were evenly matched. The score was tied 3-3 after four ends, before the game changed in Team Sitkum’s favour. Skip Nando made a delicate come across the face tap and roll to count two in the fifth, then stole the sixth when Fine’s last rock racked on a guard. Team Sitkum IT sealed the game with a wall of granite and a steal of three in the seventh, and a handshaking 9-3 win.
Team Heather Nichol had the bye. Super League curling goes every Thursday at the Trail Curling Club at 7 p.m.