Rafuse rink third at Canadian seniors

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Nova Scotia team of skip Brian Rafuse, Curt Palmer of Coldbrook, Alan Darragh and Dale Slauenwhite ended up third at the Canadian senior men’s curling championships in Prince Albert, SK.

Rafuse lost 6-5 to Saskatchewan’s Eugene Hritzuk in semifinal action March 29 to finish with nine wins and three losses.

Nova Scotia came back from an early 4-1 deficit to tie the score at four, and again at five, before Hritzuk scored the winning point with the hammer in the 10th end.

With the win, Saskatchewan advanced to the final against Russ Howard of New Brunswick, and captured the Canadian title with a 7-5 victory.

After splitting their first four games of the 12-team competition, Rafuse won seven straight games to finish the round robin in a three-way tie for first with Howard and Hritzuk at 9-2.

A highlight of the round robin for Nova Scotia was a come-from-behind 11-9 win over the eventual champions, in which Rafuse, trailing 9-7 after eight ends, scored two in the ninth to tie and stole another two in the 10th for the win.

The competition wrapped up a busy month for Rafuse, Palmer and their teammates, who also represented Nova Scotia at the Tim Hortons Brier the previous week.

Martin looking ahead to masters

Meanwhile, Yvonne Martin and Audrey Dorey of the Glooscap Curling Club in Kentville went directly from the senior women’s tournament, where they finished with a 4-7 record, to the Canadian women’s Masters competition in Naniamo, B.C., underway now.

Martin and Dorey, with Nova Scotia teammates Norma Carter and Allison Weagle, were scheduled to open the masters’ tournament Monday afternoon against Northern Ontario.