Regal redemption

With three quarters of their Bantam club team together for secondary school competition, much was expected of the Marymount Regals this year.

The quartet of Krysta Burns, Monica Graham, Sara Guy and Erin McLelland (with fifth Toni Teale providing a helping hand from time to time) cruised through regular season play, posting a flawless 7-0 record.

But as sometimes happens with young athletes, the Regals stumbled in the playoffs, falling 6-5 to the Lo-Ellen Park Knights in the SDSSAA semifinals.

They weren't about to make that mistake again.

The Marymount rink looked awfully impressive, despite not featuring three Grade 11 students and one Grade 10 in their starting foursome, rolling to five straight wins and capturing the NOSSA girls curling crown Feb. 27 at the Sudbury Curling Club.

The Regals enjoyed a “three-win” Tuesday, blanking the Elliot Lake Atoms 9-0 before defeating both the Korah Colts (9-2) and Lo-Ellen Park Knights (10-0).

Assured of a berth in the finals via the top half of the draw, Burns and company went to work on the relegation side, defeating the Algonquin Barons 9-4 and besting Korah, for a second time, to secure the Northern Ontario banner.

In the end, the loss at the city championships might have been a blessing in disguise for the Regals.

“It was kind of tough to separate the fact that we lost at cities with our ultimate goal at NOSSA,” said vice Monica Graham once the award presentations were completed.

“I think it actually helped us in the end. We came into NOSSA thinking this is going to be tough. We really brought it together as a team and it worked out well.”

In a season steeped with big moments as Burns, Graham and Guy competed not only in the NOCA (Northern Ontario Curling Association) Bantam playdowns, but also enjoyed success in Junior ladies play, the victory at the high school competition provided a fitting crescendo.

“I think we definitely stepped it up here,” said Graham. “It all came together and we peaked at the right time as a team.”

Based on the scores throughout the NOSSA competition, the Marymount rink was a notch above the rest, as the team keys on a couple of critical areas.

“We never lost focus,” said Graham. “By keeping that focus up, every end, every shot, we held it together til the end. And it's also about taking ownership of the misses.

“That gives you room to correct it for the next time.”

The Regals will be heading to Ottawa March 20-23, the site of the all-Ontario playdowns as St. Paul Catholic School plays host to OFSAA.

On the boys side of the draw, both Lockerby Composite and St. Charles College were relegated to the consolation round, with the Superior Heights Steelhawks of Sault Ste. Marie emerging as NOSSA champions.

The Steelhawks followed a similar path to Marymount, winning three straight games on Feb. 26 (including 5-4 victories over both Central Algoma and White Pines), and then blanking the latter a second time (5-0) in order to secure a spot in the finals, coming up through the bottom half of the draw.

Given that Superior Heights had claimed both berths in the final, in exactly the same manner as the Regals, they were immediately declared gold medallists.