There is simply no slowing down for the curling trio of Kira Brunton, Sydnie Stinson and Jessica Leonard.
Joining lead Abby Deschene and fifth Elizabeth Huska in representing Lockerby Composite at the NOSSA Championship last week, the local girls followed up a gold medal run at the NOCA U18 playdowns with a similar stretch of games en route to earning a trip to OFSAA.
The final matchup mirrored the one from two weeks ago that would decide SDSSAA bragging rights, as the Vikings avenged an earlier loss to the St. Charles College Cardinals (Jamie Smith, Mikaela Cheslock, Kendra Carrière, Madison Villeneuve, Tessa Gratton), taking down their crosstown rivals 7-1 last Friday at the Idylwylde.
Lockerby opened the double-knockout tournament with a flawless day one, beating Manitoulin (11-1), Superior Heights (8-1) and Jeunesse-Nord (8-0). By contrast, St. Charles followed up an 11-3 victory over Elisabeth Bruyère with a 6-5 setback at the hands of Jeunesse-Nord, setting up a do or die encounter with Lockerby early Friday morning.
The Cardinals doubled the Vikes 6-3 and proceeded to even the score with Jeunesse-Nord with an 8-2 triumph, setting up one final showdown with Lockerby, with both teams sitting with one loss apiece.
"We had a tough game this morning, a few bad ends, but we really pulled it together," said Deschene shortly after the Vikings took care of business against the Cards. "We made a lot more shots this game."
There is no denying that the atmosphere around most of the high school curling games allows for a slightly more relaxed setting, something that is noted even through the involvement of Lockerby coach Bill McKetsy, a very familiar face for many years in the Sudbury sports scene.
"Every coach is different," said Deschene. "I love Bill, he's awesome. He always has great suggestions and helps keep us together. I like our meetings that we have before the games. He brings a different energy, a different kind of strategy."
The high school provincial tournament will entail a relatively short trip for the locals, with North Bay playing host to the event from March 22nd to the 25th. "It will be cool to see a bunch of the curlers that I recognize from doing events outside of school curling," said Deschene.
Carrying the hopes of the NOSSA boys crew will be the St. Mary's Knights, as the Sault Ste Marie champs ran the table with five straight wins, beating Central Algoma twice to capture the Imperial Esso Dealer's Trophy for the first time in school history (event has been contested since 1969).
