The ultimate game of inches spun the wrong way on Oilfields’ upstart rock chuckers.
The Oilfields Curling Club’s Jacob Libbus dropped a 5-4 decision to Edmonton’s Ryan Jacques in the Alberta U18 Boys Provincial Curling Championships thrilling gold medal game decided in the final end in Lacombe on Sunday.
“At that point we wanted it bad and they wanted it more is what it comes down to really,” said Libbus, the team’s skip. “After experiencing that feeling I feel like everyone on our team wants it more than ever now.”
The Black Diamond foursome, with third Riley Helston, second Pacen Andersen and lead Tyler McWillie, engineered a brilliant weekend in producing a perfect record entering the championship game.
“We didn’t play our best games those first few, but we stuck together as a team and grinded through and made sure we won those games,” he said. “Coming that close we had a good weekend, we really did until the end. We came up short on our goals.”
Team Libbus opened up with a 9-3 triumph over Fort St. John’s Layton Tremblay and edged out Edmonton Braden Pelech 5-4 before its biggest win of the weekend.
In a battle of Oilfields Curling Club teams, Libbus tripped up the Jared Palanuik rink in what was a contest of undefeated teams by an 11-3 score. Libbus picked up a seven-ender in the fourth to turn the nailbiter on its head.
Palanuik, along with third Liam Purcell, second Nick Warkman and lead Spencer Schneider finished third at the provincial tournament with a record of 3-2.
“The scoreboard doesn’t really tell how well that end was played,” Libbus said. “We made shots, they made shots and it just ended with a run-back for seven.”
Libbus and Jacques carried identical 4-0 records into the final game of the round-robin tournament, fittingly featuring the teams with the best records in Lacombe.
After picking up singles in the sixth and seventh, the Oilfields team carried a 4-3 advantage into the final end. With hammer, the Edmonton rink responded in kind with a deuce to steal the victory and the provincial patch.
“It definitely hurts, but it makes us better as a team,” the skip added.
“We know what to look forward to and we’re setting our sights higher now for next year. We have better drive.
“Next year I think anything is possible.”
Of the six competing teams, two of the top three finishers were from the Oilfields Curling Club. They continue a long line of success from Foothills foursomes at the U18 provincial level. Last season Okotoks’ Michael Steele won the provincial patch while fellow Okotokians Kyler Kleibrink and Christian Sprinkhuysen earned the title in 2013.
For full results from the event go to lacombecurling.com
