With the Canadian vision-impaired curling national championship on the line, a B.C. team built exclusively with Prince George curlers led the six-time defending champions by a point with just three ends left.
But that slimmest of leads slipped away in the seventh end when Team Canada skip Dean Martell of Kelowna scored six on the way to a 9-4 victory in Friday's championship game.
"Team Canada kept putting rocks into the 12-foot circle, mostly on the top of the house," said B.C. coach/sweeper Norm Carne. "This left most of the house to draw into and be hidden behind their rocks. Our skip (Shane McCreery) tried twice to bury a rock, but was just a little heavy both times and left them wide open for the opposition skip, Dean Martell, to hit them out.
"Dean made his last take-out and they scored a six, which basically ended the game and won the championship for them."
The silver-medalist Prince George Golf and Curling Club B.C. team also includes third Floyd Kennedy, second Terry Pipkey, lead Peter Henry, and sweeper Caroline Markel.
B.C. advanced to the championship game in Ottawa with a 9-6 win over Newfoundland Friday morning in the semifinal round. The McCreery rink is well familiar with Martell's Kelowna crew, which has now won the vision impaired national title all seven years the tournament has been contested.
"We have played this team many times before in provincial and Western Canadian championships and it was destiny that we met again in the final," said Carne.
"We are proud of how well we did in our first national championship and finishing second was above our expectations. As their coach, I am so happy for my teammates and am looking forward to next year."
