Coach rallies Korn rink

A pep talk from their coach during a half-time break in their second game helped Jackie Korn and her Duncan curling team knock off Kesa Van Osch from Nanaimo and qualify for the juvenile girls’ provincials.

Korn and Van Osch were tied 4-4 after four ends in the second draw of the Juvenile Zone 6 Girls’ Championships in Lake Cowichan on Saturday.

“I think in the second game we started slowly,” said Korn. “During the break he (coach Miles Craig) told us we were lucky to be in the game. He was right. We settled down and played better after that.”

The result was an 8-5 win for Korn, which followed a 9-0 win over Sarah Donaldson’s rink from Victoria in the first draw.

That means Korn and her rink will be back in Lake Cowichan March 16-18 for the provincials.

Curling for Korn are third Rosie Child, second Allison Dentoom and lead Alison Gellein. Three of the four players have curled together for several years, with Dentoom joining them last year.

“We’ve been practising a lot, at least three times a week, and we’ll hold some practices here (in Lake Cowichan) before the provincials,” said Korn.

On the juvenile boys’ side, Joel Cave’s Victoria rink was unstoppable on its way to three convincing wins.

Cave, who curled in the Lake Cowichan Men’s Open Bonspiel two weeks earlier in order to get used to the ice for the zones, knocked off Rhys Mansueto’s Campbell River rink 15-1, beat Jesse McMaster from Esquimalt 8-3 and earned the provincials berth with a 10-1 sweeping of Tyler Huntley and his Campbell River team.

Cave’s rink includes third Ian Hardy, second Tyler O’Brien and lead Corey Chester.

Huntley’s crew also qualified for the provincials with a 6-3 win over McMaster Sunday afternoon. Key to the win was a steal of two in the seventh end, after McMaster was just inches light on his last rock draw.

The other juvenile girls’ teams to qualify for the provincials include Van Osch, who won her first game 9-4 over Lisa Dawson’s Campbell River team, then followed her loss to Korn with a 9-8 win over Donaldson.

Dawson’s rink also qualified for the provincials after taking the long route and beating Donaldson in draw four on Sunday morning.

Draw One — Jackie Korn 9, Sarah Donaldson 0; Kesa Van Osch 9, Lisa Dawson 4.

Draw Two — Jackie Korn 8, Kesa Van Osch 5; Sarah Donaldson 7, Lisa Dawson 5.

Draw Three — Kesa Van Osch 9, Sarah Donaldson 8.

Draw Four — Lisa Dawson 8, Sarah Donaldson 7.

Juvenile Zone 6 Boys’ Championships Scores:

Draw One — Joel Cave 15, Rhys Mansueto 1; Tyler Huntley 10, Josh Hozack 4.

Draw Two — Joel Cave 8, Jesse McMaster 3; Tyler Huntley 8, George Benson 5.

Draw Three — Jesse McMaster 7, George Benson 4; Joel Cave 10, Tyler Huntley 1; Josh Hozack 12, Rhys Mansueto 4.

Draw Four — McMaster 4, Hozack 3.

Draw Five — Tyler Huntley 6, Jesse McMaster 3.

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