Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
BARRY’S BAY – The curling team from Madawaska Valley District School (MVDS), all in Grade 10, recently wrapped up their season with a first trip to Eastern Ontario regional finals. They’re already planning for next year to go even further than that.
The team of Zack Henry, Taylor Jessup, Colin Smith and Grace Fabian missed out on making it to the regional championship final by a little over a centimetre and don’t want to have it happen next year.
The team finished the round robin with a 2-1 record, tied with two other teams. Teams make a draw to the button; the smallest spot at the centre of the rings, before each game to determine which team starts with last stone in the first end. The draw to the button distances are also used as a tiebreaker. The team with the closest rock to the button gets the higher position.
Jessup thinks the rules should change to force a rethrow between the tied teams after round robin play. “I think they should have done it again,” she said, “instead of taking what was from before.”
The draw to the button is used at many levels, including national and provincial championships and is a somewhat controversial way to break ties in the sport. Jessup said MVDS was ahead on points but the draw to the button was the first tiebreaker. “But we were way ahead on points from other schools.”
“We curled really well. We just had one unlucky game at the end,” said Smith.
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