Diana Backer finished what she started last year as the winner of the St. Albert Centre Ladies Bonspiel.
The St. Albert curler skipped her Granite rink to victory Sunday after losing last year’s A final with a team based out of the Crestwood.
Backer defeated Maureen Forbes 7-6 with the same front end – Lisa Sharun and Larissa Belke – from last year’s squad that dropped a 7-5 decision to Jennifer Scott in an all-Crestwood final.
The only difference was Kathy Pritchard was recruited to play third in the St. Albert bonspiel in the absence of Tanis Stroh, Backer’s third last year at the Crestwood and this year at the Granite with Sharun and Belke still doing all the heavy lifting.
“We played just as well as we did last year through the whole bonspiel, we just came out on top this year,” Backer said.
The seventh end against Forbes, who counted four to knot it at six, almost derailed Backer like last year, when she was in position for multiple points in seven before Scott’s hit and stick put her on top by two.
“We played really well against Jen last year, we just had a couple of shots that didn’t work for us in the seventh,” Backer said. “Those tricky seventh ends; if we just play six or eight we would be OK.”
Backer said things “snuck up on us” in seven.
“We just sort of had a half shot here and there and then all of a sudden they got four,” she said. “The first shot in seven I was honestly surprised I didn’t get the double that I was trying for so I took our own out.”
Her last shot left Forbes lying three with the hammer.
“What I was trying to do was come into theirs and bump them back eight and sit in the four foot, or if it did hang a bit we could wick off ours and come into theirs as well. I guess I threw probably back 12 instead of back eight and it was just a little heavy and it wicky ticky and rolled out,” said the second for the St. Albert-based Deb Santos rink, silver medallists at the 2013 Canadian Senior (50-plus) Curling Championships.
In eight, Backer was playing for last shot, but didn’t have to make the delivery while lying one after Forbes was heavy with her final attempt.
“My third, Kathy, made a great hit and roll and that was awesome. It ended up being shot rock,” Backer said. “We had great shots by everybody. We kept it clean. All I needed was a chance to draw for my last one.”
Forbes, third Nicole Bellamy, second Cindy Scott and lead Susan Crush stole one in the first end and Backer replied with a deuce in two. Forbes counted one in three and Backer regained the lead with one in four, then stole two in five and one in six before Forbes pulled even with four in seven.
“The girls played really, really well. It was a good game,” Backer said.
Forbes and her St. Albert Wednesday league rink finished 4-1 in the 20-team bonspiel and their biggest victory was Sunday’s extra-end semifinal triumph against Lauren Jenkyns, the reigning President’s Cup champion in the St. Albert playoffs and finalist at the 2015 Edmonton and area Tournament of Champions. Jenkyns settled for one with hammer while going for two and the win in eight and in nine Forbes scored the winner.
Backer was perfect in five games during the three-day bonspiel after going 3-1 last year. Her rink is also on top of the leader board in the Granite Wednesday league.
The 2014 finalist at the Dominion (now Alberta Travelers) Curling Club Championships curling with Stroh, Belke and Monique May out of the Granite was the coach for the 2013 Canadian deaf women’s curling championship team and silver medallists at worlds.
Backer was also the lead for Jenkyns’ Dominion championship rink from St. Albert at the 2013 nationals.
Every rink last weekend played three games in pool play to determine the playoff brackets in the A, B and C events.
“They always put on such a great bonspiel here and we really, really enjoyed it. It was lots of fun,” said Backer, who curls with Bev Merryweather, Sandy Sadoway and Cindy Bobowik in the St. Albert Monday league. “I liked how they set up the pools. Every pool had some tough teams in it and some teams that were pretty competitive, which was good for us.”
