Sports

It took three games, but Friday night (February 22) the South Dundas Bantam B Rep Lions finished off the NGS Braves with a 2-0 victory and are now preparing to meet Alexandria in Upper Canada Minor Hockey second round playoff action.

The series kicks off tonight, Wednesday, February 27 in Alexandria. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Game two of the four-point series is set for Monday, March 4 at 8 p.m. in Morrisburg, and game three, if necessary, returns to Alexandria, Thursday, March 7.

The Lions got off to a good start against the NGS Braves with a 7-3 victory on home ice last Tuesday, February 19. Then on Wednesday night, they were on the snowy road to Maxville where they were hoping to wrap up the four point series, but the Braves battled back with a 5-2 win to force a third match.

That was played Friday night in Morrisburg, with the Lions claiming the game win, 2-0, and the series win, four points to two.

Friday night, Lions goaltender Christian Francis was unbeatable as the Lions went to work on the win.

It was late in the first period that Drew Minish goal got it rolling, unassisted.

From then on, the hometown fans were on the edge of their seats as the Lions worked to hold onto their slim advantage and try to add to it.

That didn’t happen until the end of the game when Matthew Woolsey shot the puck in the empty Braves net for the 2-0 win.

Assisting on the Woolsey goal were Josh Perry and Vincent Baron-Renaud.

In the series opener in Morrisburg on February 19, the Lions were forced to come from behind as they worked their way to the 7-3 victory.

The Braves went up 2-0 in the first period on a pair of goals by Owen Bourgeois.

Early into the second period, Riley Black put the Lions on the board with help from Ben Michels and Aaron Smith.

They collected another two goals in the second period while the Braves counted one, to make it 3-3 heading into the third period.

Aaron Smith (assisted by Callahan Bilmer) and Riley Black (assisted by Quinn Bennis and Smith) counted the Lions second period goals.

Then in the third, Francis shut down the Braves shooters while the Lions went to work for four unanswered tallies and the 7-3 win.

Drew Minish led the third period charge with three goals, and Koltin Merkley counted a single.

Riley Black assisted on two of the goals and single helpers were provided by Smith, Quinn Bennis, Elese St. Louis and Michels.

[…]

The Great Waterway Classic has been added to the 2013 PGA Tour Canada schedule, which will take place August 19-25 at the Upper Canada Golf Course east of Morrisburg.

The Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA) will be the host organization conducting the event, which will see players deep in the race for the five Web.com Tour cards that will be handed out at the end of the season.

“We’re extremely pleased to add The Great Waterway Classic to this year’s schedule,” said PGA TOUR Canada President, Jeff Monday. “This tournament is going to showcase some of the great golf in the region, and the players will be spoiled by the area’s activities and scenery.”

Laced together by the sparkling St. Lawrence River, Rideau Canal, Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario, this stunning region serves up all the ingredients of a perfect golf getaway. 

On its shores you’ll find fascinating history, quaint villages, inspiring art, live theatre and gastronomic delights at every turn.

On its waters, enjoy world-class sailing, scuba diving, pristine beaches and leisurely cruises. 

“The Great Waterway Tourism Region is pleased to be back for a second year as the title sponsor of The Great Waterway Classic,” said Stephen Paul, Chair of The Great Waterway. “We are excited to be partnering with PGA Tour Canada and the Canadian Junior Golf Association to produce an event that will highlight our beautiful region and our fabulous golf courses. This year promises to be even bigger and better and will most definitely be the highlight of the golf season in The Great Waterway.” 

As part of the CJGA’s management of the event, a select number of junior golfers will gain entry into the tournament through a series of qualifiers across Canada. 

The CJGA operates a competitive development program that focuses on all areas of the sport including clinics, tournaments, mentoring programs with Tour professionals and sending teams to represent the CJGA and Canada in international competition. 

“The CJGA is delighted to be involved with The Great Waterway Classic and to be affiliated with the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Canada,” said Brad Parkins, Chief Operations Officer of the CJGA. “Bringing a first class event to The Great Waterway Region will showcase not only the some of the Tour’s top players, but it will enable some of the country’s top junior players to gain an invaluable experience during tournament week.”

The CJGA has been a stepping-stone for thousands of juniors across Canada and is no stranger churning out top performing players across the country. 

With an extensive alumni list playing on professional tours around the world, notable former members include the top four players on the PGA Tour Canada’s 2012 Order of Merit, Matt Hill, Michael Gligic, Cory Renfrew and Eugene Wong, respectively.

Stephen Ames, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Canada alumnus, has been the CJGA National Spokesperson since 2009. 

Upper Canada Golf Course has long stood as one of golf’s hidden gems in Eastern Ontario since its construction in the 1960s. At 6,922 yards, the Robbie Robinson design winds through evergreen and deciduous trees and along waterways, challenging beginners and skilled players alike. 

The Great Waterway Classic becomes the eighth event on the 2013 PGA Tour Canada schedule which starts in June and ends in September of this year.

 Eugene Wong won the inaugural playing of The Great Waterway Classic in 2012 at Smuggler’s Glen Golf Course in Gananoque, defeating Daniel Im by a single shot for his second PGA Tour Canada victory.

PGA Tour Canada is a series of $150,000 events to be played across Canada this summer. The leading five money winners at the end of the season earn highly placed status on the Web.com Tour in 2014.

PGA Tour Canada’s mission is to deliver a PGA Tour experience for our members, fans, volunteers and our partners in order to develop the future stars of professional golf and enrich the communities visited.

[…]

Two Morrisburg rinks competed at the annual Merkley bonspiel against teams from Metcalfe, Russell and Winchester. 

Joe McCooeye, John Allison, Wally Baker and Al Harriman lost tight matches in the day-long event and did not make it to the championship round in the evening. 

Our other team, Robert Houze, Larry Cooper, Chris Barkley and Rick MacKenzie lost their morning match against Hogaboam from Winchester, and then took on Russell’s Charrette in the afternoon. Our fellows were victorious, and after the banquet, they were matched against Lagace of Russell in the “B” championship. 

Robert’s team won, and brought home the Bruce MacDonald Shield, on proud display at our club for the next year at least. Steve Dunne of Metcalfe won the other final. Well done, men!

Two teams of senior men were in Metcalfe last week for the Sullivan Bonspiel. Sid Morrell, Jack Barkley, Rick MacKenzie and George Rutley won their preliminary matches against Metcalfe and Winchester, and advanced to the final. 

Pete Zeran, Andy Patenaude, Doug Jarvis and Bud Perry defeated a Russell foursome and the other Winchester quartet. You’ll never guess what two teams met for the championship. That’s right. It was an epic, if friendly battle, but Sid Morrell triumphed over Pete Zeran for bragging rights this time. One of the Russell teams had the second-best record on the day.

Our Little Rocks curlers competed in the Big Four Tournament in Russell. They did well, finishing as “A” finalists. Congratulations to Martina and Kyra Lewis, Ewan Wilson, Aiden White, Nolan Belanger, Tommy Derikz, Abby MacPhail and James Winter. They just missed out on bringing home the trophy. Ian Wilson our Little Rocks coordinator mentions that our folks went an extra end before losing to the Russell reps, who were 12 years of age, compared to our curlers, who were seven, eight, nine, 10 and 11 year-olds.

    They also played in the Ran Wylie bonspiel in Winchester, finishing third and eighth out of 12 teams. Ewan Wilson’s foursome finished with a 2-1 record for third place in their pool. Team members were Jonathon Charrette, Emily Macpherson and James Winters. The second team of Aiden Whyte, Martina and Kyra Lewis and Christian Keeler also finished as runners-up in the Big Four.

On March 1st, Ewan Wilson, Aiden White, Martina Lewis and Nolan Belanger are in the Zone 1 playdowns in Navan. Good luck, folks! Let us know how it turns out.

What with the Scotties last week, and the Brier, beginning this weekend, it’s a great time for armchair curlers. 

Congratulations to our Ottawa reps in the women’s championships. After winning as Canadian champions, they play the world’s other national victors soon. We wish them well, and offer a vote of thanks to a certain official we noted on the ice from time to time, measuring rocks to determine winners in certain ends. 

Allan Brunt, who still curls locally, is a long-time official at the provincial and national levels, and we thank him for his service to the extended curling fraternity. His family has a long history of dedication to the sport at the local levels as well.Good curling to all!

[…]

On Saturday, the Morrisburg Curling Club held its annual Heart and Stroke bonspiel. It’s a charity we feel is important to support, and with the fine lunch served by our volunteers, it was, as always, a delightful day. 

It was great to see many families out, and new curlers, as well as others we haven’t seen for a while. 

Thanks to Greta McGann, who, with her committee, ran a highly successful event, raising over $1,000 for the charity and, through the Heart and Stroke Foundation, arranged for a defibrillator for the club. It isn’t hard to operate, but once it’s in place, training will be arranged so that every league has people who can use it. We’ve been lucky in the past, but with a large senior population, this is a great security blanket for us.

Thanks to our supporters, especially Cardinal Flowers, the McIntosh Inn, Valu-mart and Home Hardware. The curlers appreciated all who supported the event in a variety of ways.

As to the curling results, in the early draw, the winners were the Toonders foursome, John, John C., Jason and Candice. There were some tight matches, and some high-scoring games, but all were entertaining. 

Victorious in the second draw were Mahlon Locke, Carolyn and Garry Beckstead, and Paula Locke. There was never a dull moment on the ice, with one of the highlights being the creative way of measuring skip shots in a tiebreaker. Congratulations to our winners.

While the executive will have more open planning meetings on accessibility upgrades to our club, President Mahlon reviewed progress to date. Grants have been won from the Ontario government by way of its Trillium division, and through the Federal government’s Infrastructure Committee. The amount of money is substantial, and will be accessed in a way that will not have the two bodies’ grants to us in conflict.

Our senior men competed in the final Parnell competition of the year last week in Lancaster. Since it’s a two-sheet rink, we’re only allowed to enter one team in the four club event, and after two playoffs, Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and George Rutley emerged as our representative, defeating, Pete Zeran, Sam Locke, Doug Jarvis and Bud Perry for the honour. Despite hard work from Sid’s team, they fell to quartets from Lancaster and a very strong Cornwall squad.

Pete Zeran took teams to two different one-game bonspiels last week as well. With Pete were Karl Duncan, Bud Perry, and Earl Jeacle in the Maxville bonspiel, which they won. Then they were off to Lancaster. This time Pete had Karl Duncan, Eric Johnson and Earl Jeacle with him. They won again, but another winning team had a better score and so our fellows finished second.

     Four of our senior curlers were in Arnprior last week for a 222 bonspiel there. Jack Barkley, Ruth Kelly, Fred “Boomer” Langlotz and Sharon Van Allen won both of their matches against Pakenham teams and finished first. They had high praise for the event, lauding the Valentine’s Day theme and the full-course dinner. Though it was a long drive, our curlers report they had a great day. 

SD&G High School championships were on at the club this Tuesday, and there’s the senior men’s Sullivan bonspiel in Metcalfe to report on next time. 

Good curling to all!

[…]

Excellent finishes, special moments and good times were the experiences shared by nine Morrisburg and District figure skaters at the Eastern Ontario Section Invitational Championships (EOSIC) here on the weekend.

It was the biggest MFSC team ever to compete at EOSIC and leading the team was Ali VanHoof in her first ever EOSIC Triathlon event, (skills, interpretive and free skating).

VanHoof started it off  with a person best skate in skills which put her in fourth place. 

Next up was what would normally be VanHoof’s weakest event…Interpretive. 

This time out however, her Interpretive was “the true breakthrough of the weekend”, says her coach Louis Dimmick. 

Shattering her previous score, VanHoof earned a fifth place finish in Interpretive which moved her into third place overall after two parts.

“It was exciting going into the third segment of the Triathlon sitting in third place,” says Dimmick. “This allowed Ali a chance to challenge for one of the three spots open to represent Eastern Ontario at the 2013 Skate Ontario STARskate Championships.”

“Also helping was the fact that Freeskate is Alisha’s strongest event. She still needed to put down a solid performance to succeed and succeed she did.”

Five successful double jumps, three great spins and two combinations later, and VanHoof was in first place in the Freeskate segment which gave her an overall second place finish in the Silver Triathlon Event to qualify for the upcoming Skate Ontario Championships.

Just narrowly missing out on a qualifying spot was Trina Dykstra-MacPherson, also coached by Dimmick.

Skating in Preliminary Flight 1, Dykstra-MacPherson placed first to qualify for the semi-final where she placed fifth. 

“This was Trina’s second time at EOSIC, but her first time at this level,” said Dimmick. “She landed her double Salchow cleanly for the first time in competition”

“Trina skates with elegance, speed and power, and she really attacked her programs this weekend. She demonstrated a mental toughness and great competitive spirit in pulling off an excellent performance.”

At the Pre-Juvenile level, Kristyn VanHoof placed 12th with a PB performance.

“This was an exciting skate for Kristy,” says Dimmick. “It was the first time she competed on a rink without boards and, despite the different new environment, she had a great skate. Kristy landed two double Salchows and two Axels.”

“Kristyn really performed her program well, completing, not only good elements, but nice connecting steps and footwork which was reflected in her program components marks.”

Skating her first time at EOSIC was Reagan Belanger. “A very graceful skater, Reagan has great edges in her skating and good height in her jumps,” says Dimmick. “She skated well, landing all six jump elements and performing her spirals well.”

“We had an absolutely wonder time at EOSIC, and I am very proud of all of my girls for their hard work,” says coach Allison Scott.

Scott’s skaters included Erika Jordan, Abigail Jordan, Alexis Engwerda, Abby MacMillan and Gillian Beatson.

In her first time EOSIC experience, Erika placed sixth (Pre-Preliminary) with a skate described as “a beautiful clean skate, peppy and full of attack”

Abigail Jordan, also in her first EOSIC, scored a first in Preliminary Women (flight 3), and then went on to place seventh in the semi-final. 

“This was a fabulous accomplishment to qualify for semi-finals her first time attending EOSIC,” said Scott.  “Having to skate twice, Abigail was consistent and solid, completing both programs with two Axels and one in combination. She skated with ease, but yet was full of power and speed.”

Known for her ‘speedy attack’ with quick steps and her artistic flair in her footwork, Alexis Engwerda finished sixth in her Junior Bronze flight.

“Alexis demonstrated determination and perseverance and had a terrific skate,” says Scott.

For Abby MacMillan, it was also a sixth place finish in her Junior Bronze flight.

“Abby is known for her ability to ‘rise to the occasion’ and her smooth polished look. Abby skated with tremendous conviction and focus and completed two Axels. She had a wonderful performance.”

Also coming in with a sixth place finish was Gillian Beatson in Senior Silver Women.

“Gillian’s program is ambitious, and she successfully completed, five doubles,” says Scott. “Gillian is also known for ‘pulling off’ a double Lutz so easily (one of the toughest double jumps), and she did just that at this event, completing one in combination and one at the end of her program, an incredible feat.”

Beatson’s event was extremely close in that the sixth to third finishing positions were separated by .40 points which meant she narrowly missed a trip to the podium.

[…]

 

Although Friday’s snowstorm caused the cancellation of two St. Lawrence Division Junior B Hockey games, there was enough weekend action to settle the playoff picture.

One of the two cancellations included the Lions final home game against the Akwesasne Wolves. 

Saturday night, the Lions ended their season on the road, with a 6-1 loss to the Wolves in the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena.

As was known for quite some time, the Casselman Vikings claimed the St. Lawrence Division pennant with 66 points on 31 wins and seven losses.

Second spot went to the Char-Lan Rebels with 47 points on 22 wins and 17 losses.

The big story of the season was that of the Akwesasne Wolves who went from last year’s last place division finish to third spot overall this season.

The Wolves posted 21 wins, 17 losses and three overtime losses for a 45 point finish.

Collecting fourth place, and the final playoff spot, are the Winchester Hawks at 34 points.

Alexandria, with 16 wins took fifth place and the Lions, with just seven wins and one overtime loss, were in the division’s basement position with 15 points. 

With the final results in, the playoffs will see the Winchester Hawks challenge the first place Vikings while the Char-Lan Rebels and Akwesasne Wolves will square off.

The Winchester-Casselman series kicks off this Thursday night, February 14, in Casselman, and returns to Winchester, Friday night, February 15 at 8 p.m. Game three is scheduled for Sunday, February 17, in Casselman, starting at 7:30 p.m.

For the Lions, it was a slow crawl to the finish line, but they made it Saturday night against the Wolves. 

Knowing weeks ago that they would not make the playoffs, the Lions team management freed their overage players and worked out (temporary) deals for several others to join other teams for the opportunity to play in the upcoming playoffs.

As a result the remaining core players were joined by affiliate players who gained valuable experience as the Lions finished out the season. 

Saturday night against the Wolves, the Lions were unable to get anything going. They trailed 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 heading into the third.

Mikael Dobson counted their lone goal, to spoil the Wolves Corey Garrow’s shut out, with just over one minute left in the game.

Taylor Eamon and Martin Lavallee provided the assists.

Marc-Antoine Kamel led the Wolves scoring with three goals and Oakley Thomas, Alex Conroy-Terrance and Dillon Barr added singles.

The Wolves out shot the Lions 63-23.

[…]

 

The Crystal Heart Curling Classic is Ontario’s largest women’s curling bonspiel, held starting the first Thursday in February each year. They’ve raised nearly half a million dollars for heart and stroke research over the years, with 320 curlers in open and senior divisions this year. On Friday night, they have a gala dinner with live entertainment. It’s a great event.

Greta McGann entered the open division of the Crystal Hearts Curling Classic, with Susan McIntosh, Claire Locke and Joanne Baker. Her team lost their first match against a Carleton Heights foursome skipped by Bartelette and dropped to the second division. Her foursome won out over Dean from Hud/Whitlock, Quebec, then triumphed over Sager of City View. Next the Morrisburg foursome went up against Van Egmond of RCMP and lost that match, eliminating them from further competition. Well done, ladies! 

A Winchester foursome with Janet LaPierre, Janet Levere, Morrisburg’s Wendy Casselman, and Janet Thompson also chose the open division, and lost to Waddell from Rideau in their first match. 

They moved to the second division, defeating Jordan from RA, Cull from Granite, Pilon from City View and O’Byrne from Granite. 

On Sunday morning they defeated Walker-Thompson from Granite in the semi-final and went up against Walker, Lacolle/Hunt, for the championship. Unfortunately our folks lost, but they’ll have their team picture on the Crystal Heart website next year anyway. Congratulations, and good luck in the Senior Provincials in Ajax.

After getting a grant from Trillium, plans for major renovations at the curling club over the summer are in the works. The club president recently provided an update to members. 

Your executive discussed the design and layout of modifications to the clubhouse at their last meeting, and outlined their recommendations at a general meeting on Monday evening. They solicited members’ thoughts about where the handicapped washroom should be located, what should happen to the bar, and what renovations should be made to the kitchen, among other matters.

The executive invites members’ ideas, either by e-mail or at one of the meetings that will follow. Further information and discussion is planned at the Heart and Stroke bonspiel this Saturday. The proposed start date for renovations is mid-April.

Two of our senior men’s teams were at a Russell bonspiel last week. Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and George Rutley dropped their morning game to a foursome from City View, while Pete Zeran, Jack Barkley, Doug Jarvis and Andy Patenaude lost their match to a Carleton Heights team. After a good lunch, based on their morning scores, Russell insisted that the two Morrisburg teams play against each other. Sid’s quartet prevailed and came home with a cash prize.

There was a playoff Thursday afternoon between Pete Zeran, Sam Locke, Bud Perry and Earl Jeacle and Jack Barkley, Andy Patenaude, Doug Jarvis and Keith Robinson to choose one of the teams that would go to the Sullivan bonspiel February 20th. Pete emerged victorious and Jack Barkley played Sid Morrell on Tuesday to determine our other representative.

The senior men have just completed the current draw for the Kincaid trophy. The winners this time were Pete Zeran, Len Bellamy, Keith Robinson and Al Gowanlock. Congratulations! Play has already begun for the Jim Fraser trophy. 

Good curling to all! 

[…]

 

Morrisburg and District Figure Skating Club skaters achieved some good results at the Prescott Future Stars Competition held on the weekend of January 26-27.

The Future Stars Competition featured three events which included the Canskate Challenge Element, Canskate Team Element and Freeskate.

The Canskate Element Challenge focused on individual skill development and performances and are not ranked.

Each skater received a certificate which indicated their overall performance level which runs gold, silver, bronze and merit.

The award level is based on the assessment of four individual elements performed by each skater.

The elements are pre-determined and are based on a skater’s stage level.

The Canskate Team Elements is set up using the same format, but as the name implies, more than one skater is involved.

Freeskate events were skated by skaters at pre-preliminary and preliminary skating levels.

The Morrisburg Club had four skaters skating in Preliminary Freeskate. 

They were Kendra Buter, Trina Dykstra-MacPherson, Abigail Jordan and Kaitlyn Stewart.

Leading their charge were Dykstra-Macpherson and Jordan both with gold medal wins.

Seven Morrisburg and District skaters skated onto the Prescott ice for the Pre-Preliminary Freeskates.

They included Alice Cameron, Ashley Bouwman, Cameryn Broad, Olivia Hart, Katie Buter, Reagan Belanger and Erika Jordan.

Cameron Broad scored the lone gold medal in Pre-Preliminary, while Olivia Hart and Katie Buter posted solid skates to earn silver medals. 

Reagan Belanger collected a bronze medal, while Alice Cameron and Erika Jordan collected fourth place finishes and Ashley Bouwman a fifth.

Thirteen Morrisburg and District skaters laced up their skates for the Canskate Element Challenge and Team Element skates.  

In the individual Element Challenge Stage 4, Jessica Groves topped the chart skating to a gold level certificate.

Shianne Johnston collected a silver level certificate while bronze certificates were presented to Marin Morrow, Olivia Chafe, Sarah Stewart and Abigail Smail. Lily Napier collected a merit certificate.

At the stage five level Madisyn Hart had a solid performance and landed a gold level certificate. Her teammates, Hannah Biemond and Gracie Fairbairn skated to bronze level certificates.

Xandra Furo earned a silver certificate at the Canskate Element Challenge stage six level, while Mikaela Furo and Abby Smith both picked up bronze level certificates.

Gracie Fairbairn and Madisyn Hart put it together for a first place performance in stage five team elements.

Sarah Stewart and Abigail Smail placed fourth in stage five team elements while Shianne Johnson, Lilly Napier and Jessica Groves were fifth in Stage 5 Team Elements.

In stage four team elements Marin Morrow and Olivia Chafe placed sixth.

Skaters with the Morrisburg and Club are now preparing for the very busy month of February.Coming up is the annual Interclub Competition, this year being held in Smiths Falls. A number of skaters are also preparing for EOSIC from February 15-17.

[…]

 

They may not be in the hunt for a playoff position, but the Morrisburg Junior B Lions are having a bit of a say in what is unfolding as the St. Lawrence Division teams jockey for position in the final two weeks of regular season play.

Last Thursday night the Lions were in Casselman where they once again experienced the power of the Vikings in a 16-1 loss.

Peter Ketcheson scored the lone Lions goal at 13:28 of the first period with help from Grant Cooper and Zach Renfrew.

Ryan Cooper was in net for 43 minutes of the Vikings scoring frenzy. Cooper gave up nine goals in 54 shots before Lions affilliate goaltender Zack Frawley stepped in for 17 minutes of action and 16 shots.

Friday night at the Char-Lan Recreation Centre, is was a different story as the Lions nabbed the division’s second place Char–Lan Rebels for a 5-2 victory.

The Lions came out hard and fast, going up 3-0 in just over 10 minutes of the first period.

Michael Paquette (from Eric Evans and Sam Hodgson) got it rolling and then Evans made it 2-0 with help from Grant Cooper and Michael Paquette.

At the 10:35 mark of the first period, Zach Renfrew teamed with Drew Veenstra and the Lions found themselves in a 3-0 position.

The Rebels did get one back, on their power play from Lawson MacDougall at 17:40 of the period.

In the second period, the Lions added goal number four on their power play. This time is was Clark Veenstra counting with Taylor Eamon and Martin Lavallee adding the assists.

Heading into the third period, the Lions went to work to hold onto their three goal advantage.

Nicholas Santoro beat Lions goaltender Ryan Cooper at 13:32 to get one back, but that was it.

Matthew Burns made it 5-2 for the Lions on their power play, with 2:13 left in the game. Cooper and Lavallee were on board for the assists.

The Rebels out shot the Lions 35-26 and were successful in one of five power-play opportunities. The Lions counted two goals in their eight power-play opportunities.

The Lions win is their first since November 16. It ended a 20 game losing streak.

While it was a big win for the Lions, it was a tough loss for the second place Glens who also lost to the Winchester Hawks, Friday night, 4-3.

Due to the two losses, the Rebels now find themselves perched precariously in second place. Although it was never a possibility of catching the first place Vikings, it was a matter of holding on to second place (mainly for home ice advantage in the first playoff round).

Right on their heels are the Akwesasne Wolves who posted a pair of weekend wins over Alexandria 5-4 and Winchester 4-2.

Four points back of the third place Wolves are the Winchester Hawks, whose current fourth place position will pit them again the Vikings in the division’s first play off round.

Coming up this weekend, the Lions will play a home and home series against Akwesasne. Their final home game of the season is this Friday night, February 8. Game time is 8:30 p.m. They will travel to the Wolves barn for their final game of the season on Saturday night.

At the very least, the Wolves will be looking for a tie in one of the two games, to prevent them from sliding into the division’s fourth place.

[…]

 

The Morrisburg Curling Club held the annual Bernie Brunt Memorial Bonspiel for senior men last week, with 12 teams from Maxville, Prescott, Kingston, Russell, Winchester and Ottawa Rideau in attendance. 

Maxville won the first draw with 29.5 points, while Prescott won the second with 30.0, so the latter will get their names inscribed on Bernie’s trophy. 

It was a great day, with Joan Morrell and her team providing an excellent lunch, and other members looking after the bar and the ice as needed. Thanks again to Wally Baker, who had the ice in superlative shape for this competition. You did fine, fellows, and did Bernie proud with the event. 

On Saturday, three groups of Morrisburg ladies were in Russell for a continental breakfast, curling, lunch, a banquet after the curling, and dancing to a live band. 

It was an incredible day, with gifts for all the curlers provided by club members, a male host for each table and wine poured by the men. If our team, in the early draw, hadn’t dragged one of their number off the dance floor, my wife wouldn’t have made it home by 10 p.m. How come our fellows don’t get that kind of a day at their bonspiels?

Alice Thompson, Sharon Van Allen, Sandra Beckstead and Kathy Gurnhill were in the early draw and they won their first game against a Carleton Heights foursome, but dropped their second to a team from the R.A. Centre, the ladies who were first overall on the day. Those women, skipped by an eighty-five year-old lady, travel together to numerous bonspiels, and they showed their class at Russell. 

In the second draw, Greta McGann, Betty Locke, Joanne Baker and Linda Murphy defeated a Cornwall team in their morning draw, but lost to Susan McIntosh in the afternoon.  

Sue McIntosh, Wendy Casselman and Paula and Claire Locke, as mentioned, won bragging rights among the Morrisburg ladies. In their morning game they defeated a Carleton Heights team, but the R.A folks had a higher point total and won top prize. Sue’s squad celebrated afterwards but made it home before Groundhog Day ended.

As to our youngest curlers, the little rockers are getting into their busy season. They play and practice every Monday night from 4:30-6:00. Nineteen strong, eight of the older ones will compete in the Big Four playdowns with Russell, Winchester and Metcalfe, while two of our younger teams will be in the Little Rock zones in March. They have also entered bonspiels this month in Prescott and Winchester. Let us know how things go, folks!

Ian Wilson tells us that his Thursday night league has passed the half-way point, with John Wilson’s foursome leading the standings with a 10-1 record. Tied for second place are Larry Cooper, Robert Houze and Joe McCooeye with a 7-4 record. Can’t wait for the playoffs!

We have a senior men’s team in Russell for a bonspiel this week and we’ll report on that event and the senior men’s invitational bonspiel next time. In the near future we’ll report on our local interest in the Senior Women’s Provincial finals, our Heart and Stroke bonspiel is on next week, there’s another senior men’s friendly event, and the S.D. &G. playdowns will be held here again.

     Good curling to all!

[…]