Submitted to the Grand Forks Gazette
Once again a team of Grand Forks curlers will be representing the Kootenays at the BC Winter Games.
This time around there will be a girls team in the curling tournament. On Jan. 12 the Starchuk Team travelled to Kimberley to play off against the Smith Team from Elkford. The Starchuk team consists of Olivia Starchuk (skip), Payton Maffioli, (third), Hannah Bartlett, (second) and Lisa Sheets (lead) and is coached by Leigh Starchuk.
The first game was at noon on Jan. 13.
Elkford opened the scoring with a single point in the first end. Grand Forks answered with two points in the second end. The third end was again a single point for Elkford. Team Starchuk then scored two to go into the fourth end break leading by two. The fifth end saw Elkford come out strong and take three. The sixth end was blanked and in the seventh end, Grand Forks took two to tie the game going into the final end. The eighth end saw numerous rocks in play with Grand Forks stealing the winning point.
The evening game saw Starchuk open the scoring with single point steals in the first two ends. Elkford answered with singles in the next two ends. The scored was tied at two going into the fourth end break. The fifth end saw Olivia Starchuk execute a difficult draw to the four-foot to score two and take the lead 4 to 2. Elkford struggled in the sixth end allowing Grand Forks to steal three points. The score after six ends of play was 7 to 2 for Grand Forks. Elkford managed to take one point in the seventh end. The eighth and final end saw Team Starchuk run Team Smith out of rocks. The final score was 7 to 3.
The game in Kimberly represented the team’s competitive debut. The BC Winter Games take place in Kamloops from Feb. 22- 25.