High Noon Shootout!

This second of four draws on day #3 of the Canadian Senior Curling Championships presented by Raymond James in Abbotsford, BC saw some clutch shots both made and missed. Once again, this was a mixed draw with three games of each gender group played. The women’s games brought the Northwest Territories (Ann McKellar-Gillis) up against Northern Ontario (Darla Esch) with the team from The Yellowknife C. C. seeking its first “w” and it almost came about. Playing the final end with the score tied at 8, skip Esch drew for the winning point leaving their northern sisters still wanting to break into the win column while moving their own record to 2-2.

Photography by Davina

Another close game saw the host BC team (Penny Shantz) match up with the foursome from the Unity C.C. (Darlene Gillies) in Saskatchewan. With the score 5-4 for BC playing end #8, the prairie lassies kicked a field goal for a three. The teams traded ones in the last two ends which left the team from the wheat province ahead by two. The loss put Team BC at 1-3 and vaulted SK into an opposite 3-1 record. The remaining women’s game was only close in the warm up. Team Manitoba (Laurie Deprez) fashioned a deuce in the first end and never looked back against Shirley Berry and her teammates from PEI. The final score was 8-4 in nine ends. The win evens the buffaloes’ record at 2-2 and pushes PEI into a 1-3 position. All the men’s games were shootouts but unfortunately only one team in each contest appeared to do the shooting. Alberta (Rob Armitage) continued to post the “w’s” by getting past New Brunswick (Mark Armstrong) 10-4 in 8 ends. The win puts the blue & gold leading the parade at 4-0 and leaves the Atlantic crew at 1-3. Atlantic Canada got some push back when the team from the Re/Max Centre (Glenn Goss) in St. John’s, NL defeated the squad from Upper Canada out of The Ottawa C. C. (Brian Lewis) 10-5. The win puts the islanders from Newfoundland & Labrador at 3-1 and right in the hunt but places the w/l record for the Ontarians at an even 2-2. The final men’s game was another blowout. The clan from Halifax under the leadership of skip Dave McCusker trounced the quartet from the Whitehorse C. C. (George Hilderman) by a 9-3 count. The Bluenosers now sport a 2-2 record while the mushers from the north are looking for their first “w”! Scores & Standings Host Committee Web Site