Port Coquitlam curler Matthew McCrady and his Royal City rink had a strong showing at the B.C. Junior Men’s Curling Championship in Kamloops, walking away with a silver medal after coming up short against Langley’s Team Tardi in the finals.
McCrady and company, which includes third Zac Curtis of Coquitlam, second Liam Purgavie of Surrey and lead Jacob Umbach, also of Coquitlam, kept things close early on in the draw. However, when the rink was forced to make a complicated shot in the seventh end to get around a well-placed guard, they gave Team Tardi a steal of three.
The deficit was too much for the McCrady rink, all aged 16, who ended up falling to the Langley opponents 8-3.
The Royal City rink had a bumpy ride on their way to the championship draw.
McCrady got off to a shaky start with a 5-3 loss to Team Carpenter in the opening matchup, before defeating Team Love 7-5 later on during the first day of the championship. They went on to win draw three 6-3 against Team Croteau, draw four 7-5 against Team Kiss but lost draw six 5-1 to Team Henderson, which eventually took bronze overall.
However, Team McCrady would avenge the round-robin loss during the tournament semifinals, taking down Henderson 8-5 after tying things up 3-3 in the fifth end before putting up five more before the end of the draw. That set the stage for the championship finals against Team Tardi.
With the gold medal win, 17-year-old Tyler Tardi adds to his trophy collection. He has two mixed doubles titles already and represented B.C. at the Canada Winter Games last year. Last weekend was his first time winning a B.C. junior title.
McCrady was not the only Tri-City curler to leave Kamloops with a medal last weekend.
Catera Park of Coquitlam joined Team Loken of the Delta Thistle Curling Club for a third-place showing at the championships, joining skip Sarah Loken and second Kylie Karoway of Surrey and lead Kim Bonneau of Abbotsford on the podium.
THE SCOTTIES ARE COMING UP
Prince George curler Patti Knezevic and her rink will look to defend their B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts Women’s Curling title in Coquitlam this month.
The event, which will feature eight teams from around the province, will get underway at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex between Jan. 19 and 24, with the finals scheduled to be televised at 4 p.m. on the last day. For tickets and information go to bcscotties2016.curlbc.ca.
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