The Deanna Johnson foursome from Elmira sports a 2-2 record after four draws of round-robin play at the OCA Bantam Girls’ Provincial Championships, being held at the Land O’ Lakes Curling Club in Tweed.
Deanna, with third Laura Daniel, second Jaime Jones, lead Emily Walsh and coaches Bob Johnson and Steve Jones got off to a shaky start but got a win in their first of seven round-robin games by defeating Evie Fortier and her rink from the Huntley Curling Club. A close game with the score tied 2-2 after 5 ends, Deanna’s rink broke it open in the sixth with a count of three, followed by a steal of 2 in the seventh and then ran Fortier out of rocks in the 8th end to seal the win.
Game 2 Wednesday evening brought some inconsistent play, with Deanna up 5-0 after 2 ends but in the end losing to Amy Heitzner of Orillia 9-6.
During the rink’s third game yesterday, their only scheduled game due to the tournament banquet scheduled for the evening, the team struggled with the ice – particularly with draw weight – and lost to the talented Lauren Horton rink from the Huntley Curling Club from Carp, just north of Kanata. Deanna found herself down 5-0 after four ends of play after a bit of bad luck, according to coach Bob Johnson, with Horton and her rink of Jordan Mark, Cassandra Lewin, and Jessica Armstrong starting with hammer and taking 2 in the first end, followed by 1-point steals in ends 2, 3, and 4. A score of 2 in the 5th end brought the game a bit closer, but Horton took 3 in the sixth to once again lead by a considerable margin, now 8-2, and the game was effectively over. The teams shook hands after 7 ends with Horton earning an 8-3 win.
This morning, the Johnson foursome played their first game against the talented Chelsea Brandwood foursome from the Glendale Golf and Country Club in Hamilton and turned in a sparkling performance, a come-from-behind 5-3 win in a very close game. Down 3-2 after the sixth end of play, Deanna played two “beauties” according to coach Bob Johnson for a deuce in seven, and followed that with a “solid steal” of one in the eighth and final end.
I’ll post another update as draw details become known. Round-robin play at the Bantam Girls Provincial Championship will be completed Saturday night, with Sunday reserved for tie-breakers if necessary.
Go Elmira!