Horgan rink holding strong at nationals

With their berth in the championship playoff round of the 2016 Canadian Junior Curling Championships safely assured, it's now time for the Tanner Horgan rink to jockey for the best possible positioning in pursuit of at least a spot in the Friday tie-breakers.

Representing the Copper Cliff Curling Club, the local quartet of Maxime Blais (lead), Nick Bissonnette (second), Jacob Horgan (vice), and older brother Tanner at skip, have dropped only one game through the seven draws of action to date in Stratford.

The Northern Ontario lads scored four in the sixth end in their Saturday opener, beating Yukon (Brayden Klassen) 9-5, and following that up with a 7-3 win over New Brunswick (Alex Robichaud) later in the day.

Making their third trip to junior nationals, the Horgan foursome remained unbeaten thanks to a 7-6 win over Prince Edward Island (Matthew MacLean), jumping out to a 7-2 lead, and holding on over the final three ends.

Their only loss came Sunday evening at the hands of Tyler Tardi of British Columbia, as the 5-0 B.C. rink defeated Team Horgan 8-3. The Sudbury quartet (Blais is actually from Smooth Rock Falls) bounced back in a big way yesterday, thumping the Northwest Territories (Matthew Miller)13-3.

With their record of 4-1, the NOCA champions currently sit in second place in Pool "B", trailing only British Columbia, and with just one final preliminary round game remaining. The Horgan rink will face Saskatchewan (Jacob Hersikorn) on Jan. 26, with the Prairie crew sporting a 3-1 record to date.

Beginning Wednesday, the top four teams in Pool "B" get combined with the top four in Pool "A", with everyone rounding out the second half of round robin play with cross-over games against the opposite pool.

With records carried forward, it's on to the top three (plus tie-breakers) of eight who advance to the playoffs on Friday. While Horgan and company have advanced through to the championship round in both 2014 and 2015, they did so both times with a preliminary record of 2-4, making it next to impossible to close the gap in the cross-over games.

A mark of either 5-1 or 4-2 this year - which is the worse case scenario - will give Northern Ontario a fighting chance come Wednesday, when they play only the best of the best from Pool "A".

Meanwhile, on the junior women's side of the draw, the Sudbury Curling Club team of Megan Smith (skip), Kira Brunton (vice), Kate Sherry (second), Emma Johnson (lead) and Mikaela Cheslock (fifth) still have hopes of reaching the championship draw.

This despite a 1-3 record, heading into the final day of preliminary round curling. Tied at 4-4 with Manitoba (Abby Ackland) after seven ends on Saturday, the Smith rink surrendered three in the eighth, dropping their opener 8-5.

The Northern Ontario ladies evened their mark at 1-1, cruising to a 13-2 triumph over Nunavut (Sadie Pinksen), but stumbled against both Alberta (Selena Sturmay) and New Brunswick (Justine Comeau) on Monday, losing 9-3 and 8-5.

The good news is the locals will close out play today, facing the winless squad from the Northwest Territories (Zoey Walsh), and wrapping up against Quebec (Laurie St-Georges).

With a record of 3-2, Quebec holds the fourth and final spot that will advance to the championship flight. A Northern Ontario win over NWT, followed by another against the St-Georges rink tonight, will force a tie-breaking game, deciding who moves on.