CANORA -For the final draw of the regular schedule before the playoffs, the eight teams of the Duck Mountain Super League battled it out at the Sylvia Fedoruk Center in Canora on Dec. 16.
The Canora rink, skipped by Terry Dennis and sponsored by Community Insurance, headed into the final draw with a record of five wins and one loss, good enough for a tie for first place.
Other members of the Dennis foursome are: Len Bazarski (third), Brenden Valchyshak (second) and Aaron Herriges (lead).
Their opposition was the Brent Scales rink of Swan River, who had last rock in the first end. But Dennis made a clutch raise to the four-foot, behind cover, leading to a steal of one and an early 1-0 lead.
The Canora rink stretched the lead in the second end, thanks in large part to a pair of impressive shots by Brenden Valchyshak, second; a draw behind guards and then a hit and roll, also behind cover. The Dennis foursome rode the advantage through the rest of the end and stole three to take a 4-0 lead.
But in the third end, things started to turn in favour of the Scales foursome. Scales capped the end with a draw for a big three points, cutting the Dennis lead to 4-3.
The fourth end started well for the home team, as Aaron Herriges, lead, placed a useful guard with his first shot, and then raised it straight back to the button on his second. But the Scales team neutralized that stone with a precise raise-tap, and ended up tying the game at 4-4 with a steal of one.
In the fifth, it seemed like almost every rock was in the house. But the Scales team took control and a 5-4 lead with a steal of one.
In the sixth end, it looked like Dennis and his teammates were in business when he made a tap and roll to the button behind a Scales stone. But Scales nailed a double raise takeout to count three and place the pressure right back on the Canora foursome. Dennis came close to a great shot, but did manage to cut Scales down to a steal of one and a 6-4 deficit.
The seventh turned out to be the final end. The Scales team continued to make their shots and sunk an early rock in the four-foot. They guarded it the rest of the way and ended up stealing two for a final score of 8-4, with the Dennis rink conceding after the end.
Duck Mountain Super League playoffs were scheduled to get underway on Friday, Dec. 19 in Benito.
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