Saturday night (Jan. 14) saw a classic BC Men’s Curling Championship matchup between Team Cotter and Team Pierce in semi-final action in Chilliwack. A near-perfect first end from Team Cotter set up a draw to the four foot for skip Jim Cotter to solidify the deuce.
In the second end, skip Brent Pierce was forced to make a precise draw to the side of the four foot for the single. A great weight call to ensure the rock finished just right was made by lead Nick Meister and second Jared Kolomaya.
READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Provincial championships of curling in Chilliwack
The third end was Team Pierce’s turn to force Team Cotter to a single. With Jim Cotter facing two opposing stones in the house on his last, he played the easy hit and stick for one.
Jeff Richard, third for Team Pierce, made a fantastic line call in the fourth end to elicit a perfect hit and roll to force Team Cotter into a tricky runback. Team Cotter wasn’t able to navigate the shot perfectly, leading to a Team Pierce deuce.
In the last end before the break, there was an unfortunate pick on a Team Pierce shot that allowed Team Cotter to clean up a messy house to set up their deuce.
The second half of the game was just as the first was – full of precision, great shot making and intensity. There was never a clear leader in this game, right until the tenth end. Team Cotter was up two points without the hammer coming home. However, it was Team Pierce capitalizing off of a few key misses to score three in the last end to secure their spot in the final, with a score of 9-8.
Team Pierce will face Team Gauthier (Victoria) Sunday at 2 p.m. in the final.
READ MORE: Chilliwack Curling Club hosts provincials
It is Chilliwack’s first time hosting the BC Men’s Curling Championships, together with the BC Women’s Curling Championships, presented by Best Western.
Both events run till Sunday, Jan. 15 when the championship finals are scheduled.
The winning men’s team from the championship will go on to compete at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier in London, ON.
The winning women’s team will compete at the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, in Kamloops.
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