Scoring five in the third end of their Wednesday afternoon draw against Ontario may have taken some of the heat off of Team B.C.
But it didn’t make the victory any less important.
Standings courtesy of the Canadian Curling Association.
Kamloops native Jim Cotter and his B.C. rink can do no worse than a tiebreaker at the 2014 Kamloops Brier now, following their 8-3 victory against Ontario, but the focus is still on bigger things.
“You want that 1-2 game,” skip John Morris said, referring to the page playoff game that will see first place play second place, with the winner advancing straight to Sunday’s final.
“We’re going to be gunning hard for that 1-2 game,” he continued. “If we win tomorrow morning, we’re in the 1-2 game, so that’s going to be our focus is that first game. We know Manitoba’s playing real well and we’re going to have to play great to beat them.”
The game begins at 8:30 a.m.
In Manitoba, Morris and Co. will be facing a team that has gone 7-2 in the Brier thus far and is looking like a lock to be playing on the weekend as well.
It will be their biggest game of the Brier to date, but it might be a little easier with how well Cotter is throwing those fourth stones.
Through 12 draws the hometown kid is curling 87 per cent — tied for the best among skips — and looks like he has the confidence to make any shot asked of him. That was on display when he threw the shot that helped B.C. score five against Ontario on Wednesday, just one of a number of highlight-reel tosses throughout the week.
“He’s a heck of a curler,” Morris said, adding that while some may be surprised by the play of some of the lesser known curlers this week, he’s not.
“I know how great these guys can be,” he continued. “It’s amazing what a great team dynamic can do for a team. When you’re all trusting each other and work hard together, you can accomplish lots of things.”
Despite inching ever-closer to weekend play, along with the pressure that comes it, the skip isn’t worried about how his team will handle the pressure.
After all, this may be a hometown Brier for Cotter, but it doesn’t compare to what the team has been through before.
“Well we’ve already had a little bit of heat on us,” Morris said. “If you can handle the heat of the Olympic Trials, which is the most heat in the entire season for pressure . . . that was a good test for us in Winnipeg.”
It appears things are as good as they can get for B.C. right now — they’re winning, they’re working well together, they’re even getting an opportunity to relax, from time to time.
The eighth end Wednesday afternoon was one of those times. With his team up sixth, Morris’ mood appeared light and he was asked if his team was almost having fun in that moment.
“Almost having fun?” he repeated with a smile. “I wouldn’t be curling if I wasn’t having fun.
“When you’re winning games, it’s easy to do that.”
