This past weekend the Barrhead Composite High School boys curling team travelled to Leduc to compete in Provincials.
Lead Ryan denBroeder, second Jacob Kiselyk, third Stuart Phillips, skip Brayden Borle, Alternate Jeremy Hoeksema and coaches Rod Phillips and Steve Brost kicked off the tournament Thursagainst La Crete Public School.
Although the game was close through the first few ends, the Barrhead boys were able to come up with the win with the final score of 8-4.
Friday the boys played the host team from Leduc. This game was an opportunity for the alternate player Jeremy Hoeksema to play. Barrhead won this game 10-4.
In the final round robin game Saturday, the boys were in a nail-biter game against Vauxhall High School. It came down to patience and accuracy, and Barrhead was able to win 5-3.
In the first round of semi-finals, Barrhead was up against a strong team of Lindsay Thurber School Grade 12 boys from Red Deer.
The game was competitive as both teams were hungry for the win. However Barrhead was able to pull together, and call and make some amazing shots throughout the game.
Tied at 4-4 going into the 7th end, the boys were able to blank the 7th end to retain hammer for the 8th end. This game came down to the final shot by skip, Brayden Borle.
With the great sweeping abilities of DenBroeder and Kiselyk, and the keen eye of Phillips, the boys were able to get their final rock into the house, bump Red Deer’s rock out and stick their own to win the game. The final score was 5-4 for Barrhead.
In the gold medal game the boys were up against Lloydminster, another strong team that had also gone undefeated during the provincial playoffs.
In the first Barrhead scored one. The second end was blanked and in the third end Barrhead was able steal three points. In the fourth they once again stole another point, ending the first half of the game with a 5-0 lead.
Barrhead continued to steal points in both the fifth and sixth ends. After six ends Barrhead was declared the winner in the gold medal game with a final score of 8-0.
This win is a great accomplishment, as they were the youngest team at provincials and have the chance to continue to compete for the next two years at this level. Each player and coach received a gold medal, and the school received a banner to hang in their gym, a plaque to keep at the school and the trophy to engrave and have until provincials next year.
This was the first time BCHS had a boys team win zones and make it to the Provincial Level.
