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Bantam Girls sweep their way to fourth place finish

Last week, North Bay’s own bantam girls team participated in its first provincial playdown in Sioux Lookout, ON.
Last week, North Bay’s own bantam girls team participated in its first provincial playdown in Sioux Lookout, ON.

The team, consisting of Lead, Sarah Pigeau, Kate Sherry at Second, Vice, Marielle Rochefort, Skip, Calli Barclay and coach Patti Callahan, started their journey towards provincials back in January at regional’s that were held at the North Bay Granite Club.

The girls were up against four other teams from regions 5 and 6 who felt up to the challenge.

As only three of the five teams would advance to provincials, the girls had to be ready for every game coming their way.

After the round-robin style competition was over, Barclay was tied for first with teams Smith, from the Sudbury Curling Club and Burns from the Idylwylde Golf & Curling Club, each finishing with three wins and one loss.

Their record would be good enough for a place in the provincial championship.

Fast forward one month later and here came the time for provincials.

The team started the long trip last Wednesday. The next day the competition would start with their first game against a familiar opponent, team Smith and then local team, Poirier of the Sioux Lookout Golf & Curling Club.

The girls finished the day with two disappointing losses to two competitive teams. The next morning Barclay suffered another loss against Burns, losing 7-6.

After the first three draws, Barclay stood at the bottom of the standings and decided to kick it into high gear.

The girls would go on to win the next four games in a row against team Rutledge of the Soo Curlers Association, the Port Arthur Curling Club’s team Keetch, Longlac Curling Club’s own team Ouellet and team Bazinet of the Atikokan Curling Club.

Unfortunately, the wins failed to get Barclay into the playoffs or a tiebreaker, but were able to move them up to a satisfying fourth place finish with a record of four wins and three losses.

Even though the girls didn’t win the provincial championship, they were still happy to have participated.

Every moment was exciting, from the opening ceremony right down to the final game. There wasn’t a dull moment for the girls, nor was there a lack of fun.

Submitted to BayToday.ca

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Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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