LITTLE CURRENT, Ont. – Brian Adams Jr. rallied for a come-from-behind win at the Northern Ontario Curling Championships, and will remain on the B-side bracket for at least one more match.
The Thunder Bay skip, who trailed Ian Deschene 6-3 after seven ends on Friday morning, scored three in the eighth and stole a single in the 10th end to eke out a 7-6 win.
Adams Jr. and his teammates, third Colin Koivula, second Mark Koivula and lead Joel Adams, trailed by as much as 5-1 in the contest, giving up a steal of two in the fifth end.
The comeback began with a pair in the sixth and then, after giving up one in the seventh, Adams navigated his way to three in the eighth to even the score 6-6. The two teams blanked the ninth, Deschene holding hammer for the final end.
Adams Jr. on Friday night will take on Little Current’s Jordan Chandler, who edged Sudbury’s Mike Assad 6-5 in an extra end.
Deschene dropped to the C-side bracket and will next take on Thunder Bay’s Zach Warkentin, who eliminated fellow Thunder Bay skip Chris Silver with a 6-4 win on Friday morning.
Their match is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Also eliminated from the 14-team field was North Bay’s Malcolm O’Bright, who gave up three in the first, rallied back to tie, but couldn’t hang on and lost a 9-6 decision to fellow North Bay skip Brad Minogue.
Women’s action resumes on Friday afternoon.
Defending champion Krista McCarville will play Sudbury’s Krysta Burns, in a rematch of last year’s final, and Thunder Bay’s Robyn Despins (0-1) will play Jackie McCormick (0-1).
North Bay’s Laura Johnston (1-0) will play Timmins’ Lauren Mann (0-1) in the final match of the draw.
Thunder Bay’s Trevor Bonot takes on Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan in the A-side championship and a direct route to Sunday’s title game.
