Masters curling
The second loss for the Gary Greening rink of St. Albert at the Alberta men’s masters (60-plus) curling championship was Sunday’s final.Greening, third Dale Briske, second Rick Dallyn and lead Doug de Bruijn suffered a 5-2 setback in seven ends to Mickey Pendergast of Red Deer at provincials in Stettler.
The final was scoreless until Pendergast counted one in three and the next end made it 2-0.
A deuce in five by Greening knotted the score and Pendergast answered with a deuce in six and a steal of one in seven.
Pendergast also defeated Greening 8-2 in the round robin as the game ended with a five spot in six.
Pendergast finished 7-1 overall and will represent Alberta at nationals, April 1 to 8 in Surrey and White Rock, B.C.
Greening’s 7-2 record included the 5-4 semifinal decision against Fred Armstrong, the defending champion, as the Red Deer/Innisfail rink needed two to tie in the last end with the hammer but settled for one.
Meanwhile, the Neil McKay rink of St. Albert lost six out of seven games at provincials.
The lone win for McKay, third Don Johnson, second Richard Davis and lead Ferd Caron was 7-6 against Cliff Kostiuck (1-6) of Peace River. McKay counted one in six and stole singles in seven and eight.
McKay also dropped a 10-3 decision in seven ends to Greening – the TSN turning point was a five-ender in seven – and fell short 11-9 to Pendergast while giving up three in eight and a steal of two in the extra end.
At the northern Alberta playdowns in St. Albert, Greening won the A qualifier and McKay was victorious in the C event.
Crude lacrosse
Open tryouts for the Crude Junior B Tier I Lacrosse Club of St. Albert start Sunday at Servus Credit Union Place.The first of nine sessions in March begins at 7 p.m.
All non-drafted graduating midgets, free agents, Crude draftees and returning players are eligible to attend.
The cost is $100 per player. Visit www.crudelax.ca for the registration form and more information.
Players released after March 18 are free agents and can try-out with other junior B teams in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
The last tryout session for the Crude is March 28.
The 2017 Crude finished fourth at 6-13-1 in the six-team north division and lost the best-of-three opening playoff round in two games to the third-place Sherwood Park Titans (12-8).
Junior C Miners
The St. Albert Miners have added a senior C team to their lacrosse stable for the upcoming season.The senior C division in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League includes the Blackfalds Silverbacks, Edmonton/Westlock Warriors, Vermilion Rage and the Miners in the north and the Airdrie Mohawks, Calgary Irish, Lethbridge Pioneers and Okotoks Erratic in the south.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for a Presidents’ Cup three-peat by the senior B Miners while the junior A Miners hope to make the playoffs after finishing 1-17 last year.
The senior B Miners are the first Alberta team to win consecutive national championships while going 57-2-1 over that span: 32-2 last year and 25-0-1 in 2016.
The last team to repeat at nationals was the St. Regis Braves of the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse League in 2011 and 2012.
The Miners also won bronze in 2014 while going 27-3 and all three losses were at nationals.
