THUNDER BAY – The defending champs are still alive at the Northern Ontario Men’s Curling Championship.
But they have to win out to reclaim their title.
Trevor Bonot’s foursome eked out an 8-7, extra-end win on Saturday morning to move on in C-side, eliminating his opponent, Thunder Bay’s Chris Silver, in the process.
It was a battle from start to finish, said Bonot, who never led until he manufactured a steal of one in the 11th, after getting his deuce in the 10th to keep the match going.
“They pushed us to the limit, and to have our life hanging on a steal and hoping for a miss is unnerving, but we’re pretty happy to sneak that one out and still be alive here,” Bonot said.
Silver, who had won three-straight, after opening with two straight losses, led 3-0 after a steal of two in the third end, but Bonot rallied back, picking up one in the fourth and then he stole singles in the fifth and sixth to even the match 3-3.
Silver scored a deuce in the seventh, but with hammer in the eighth, Bonot had a potential hit-and-stick for three, but did manage to score two, once again tying the match.
Another two in the ninth gave Silver a 7-5 advantage, but Bonot was perfect on his draw to the button for a pair in the 10th, forcing the extra end.
“Of course, it’s a lot of pressure, but I think for us it’s about staying calm and doing what we do and just making sure we have draw weight and control – nothing too pumped up and just stay calm.”
It’s relief knowing they’ve survived to play another match, an afternoon battle against Zach Warkentin, who pulled out all the tricks on Saturday to score a come-from-behind 9-7 win over Brian Adams Jr., stealing three in the 10th to triumph.
“You’ve got to win a lot of games to make the playoffs in these events, and we know that,” Bonot said. “A couple more would be nice, but first off we’ve got a game at 2 o’clock and we’re going to start with the first end and see how that goes.”
Warkentin found himself in early trouble, giving up four in the second end to Adams.
But games aren’t lost in the second end, said the veteran skip, who bounced back with two in the third and hit the fifth-end break trailing 5-3.
“It’s a long game. It’s 10 ends and we’ve been on flip side of (being) up big. It’s really tough to defend a lead for that long, so we knew if we just stuck to the process, that’s kind of what we kept saying,” Warkentin said.
At that point, it was all about making shots.
Down 7-4 entering the ninth, Warkentin was left with an open hit for two to score a couple, leaving him down one, without hammer, coming home.
As Adams put up guards, Warkentin clogged the four-foot, burying a third stone on the four-foot. Adams was left with a tricky draw and rubbed on a guard, ending his week.
“Once we had those two in play, we knew that OK, Brian’s going to have to make a couple of really nice ones against us to be able to get it. It just kind of came down to … just make two pistol draws and know he’s going to have to face a tough one. And that’s all you can do.”
The winner of the 2 p.m. match will advance to the C-qualifier against the loser of the B-qualifier between Thunder Bay’s Dylan Johnston and Sudbury’s Sandy MacEwan.
