B.C. will hope to finish with a .500 record at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s curling championships in Calgary.
Team Laycock, with Steve Laycock of Saskatoon at skip, Vernon91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Jim Cotter throwing fourth rocks and the Kelowna front-end of lead Rick Sawatsky and second Andrew Nerpin improved to 2-4 in the preliminary round Wednesday, March 10, with a 10-5 win in nine ends over Gregory Skauge of the Northwest Territories (1-5).
B.C. will wrap up play Thursday, March 11, against Jason Gunnlaugson of Manitoba (5-1) and Brendan Bottcher of Alberta (4-2).
There was scoring in every end in the B.C.-NWT matchup. Skauge scored one in the first and the teams traded deuces in the second and third ends.
Laycock91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s rink racked up three points in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead they wouldn91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™t relinquish.
Skauge picked up one in the fifth, but B.C. responded with a single in six and a steal of two in the seventh for an 8-4 advantage. The Territories conceded after B.C. picked up another deuce in the ninth end.
While there was scoring in every end in the Laycock-Skauge match, Brad Edwards needed only single points in three ends to hand Manitoba91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Jason Gunnlaugson a 3-0 defeat, the first loss for the Prairie squad. Gunnlaugson is 5-1 while Edwards91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™ Northern Ontario rink improved to 5-2 with its fourth straight win.
Wayne Middaugh91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Ontario Wild Card rink improved to 5-1 with a 7-6, 11-end victory over James Grattan of New Brunswick, who forced the extra end by scoring three with hammer in the 10th. Grattan is 4-3.
Bottcher, who has lost the last three Brier finals, needed just eight ends to beat Manitoba91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Mike McEwen91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Wild Card rink 9-3. McEwen is 2-4.
In Pool B, four-time champ Kevin Koe91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Wild Card rink from Calgary is 6-0. John Epping of Ontario, Matt Dunstone of Saskatchewan and defending Brier champ Brad Gushue91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Team Canada rink from Newfoundland/Labrador are all 4-2. Michael Fournier of Quebec is 4-3.
The top four rinks from both pools advance to Friday91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s championship round, carrying their round-robin records with them.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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