Any skip always tries to leave his or her opponent the toughest shot possible on last rock.
And that's exactly what Bill Fisher did to his good friend and opponent Scott Sherba in the 88th Kelly Cup men's bonspiel final Sunday at the Prince George Golf and Country Club.
Leading 4-3 going into the 10th end, Fisher, without hammer was counting two on the button underneath cover when he executed two difficult draws. He forced Sherba, who was holding hammer, to make a difficult angle raise take-out with his last rock. Sherba just missed and Fisher stole a deuce and won the game 6-3 to capture his fourth Kelly Cup title.
"Once we had the opportunity to come in (with my first rock) I knew we had to make it," said Fisher Sunday. "On my second shot, we had to go in with another one. I wanted to give Scott the hardest shot possible (on his last rock) and I felt pretty good after I made the second one."
Fisher made his first shot, a difficult come-around a series of centre guards and wound up frozen to one of Sherba's yellow stones that was sitting at the back of the four-foot. On his first rock, Sherba just wrecked on one of his own rocks in the top-12 foot on his draw attempt.
That allowed Fisher to repeat the same draw again which he made to lie two forcing Sherba into a tough final shot.
The game was a tightly-contested match between the two teams for the entire 10 ends.
Sherba's rink includes third Chris Pallot, second Geoff Magrath and lead Victor Litnosky.
Fisher's crew is comprised of third Rick Fewster, second Lyle Hensrud and lead Wayne Colliss.
Sherba had a 2-0 lead after four ends, and Fisher scored a single in the fifth to narrow the lead. Fisher stole a single in the sixth end to tie the game when Sherba's draw attempt was light.
Sherba blanked the seventh and scored a single point in the eighth with a take-out for a 3-2 lead.
In the ninth end, Fisher drew for his deuce for a 4-3 lead going into the 10th end.
"We expected a tight-contest, we've played Scott a ton," said Fisher. "Sometimes we win, sometimes they win. But it's all fun and we're great friends. I curled with Geoff for 10 years. I won three Kelly Cups with Geoff."
It's the fifth time Fewster has won the Kelly Cup, while it's the second cup each for Colliss and Hensrud.
Hensrud just joined the team this week, since Fisher's other teammate Mike Gallagher was out of town for business reasons.
Fisher, a 61-year-old retired Canfor employee last won the Kelly Cup in 2012.
"I was 58 years-old the last time I won it and after that I wasn't sure if I would win one again in my 60s," he said.
Thirty-two teams entered the Kelly Cup which was played simultaneously with the ladies bonspiel.
Alyssa Connell's juvenile ladies team won the event with a 7-5 win over Julia Shaddick.
Connell's team includes third Bailey Eberherr, second Jordan Henson and lead Erin Ross.
Shaddick's rink is comprised of third Courtney Wickstrom, second Deb Dallas and lead Sue Dalziel.
