With two draws remaining until the playoffs, the top three teams in the Original 16 Cash League have been decided.
How things finish up in the rest of the standings is anyone’s guess.
BTN Chartered Accountants (Penny Barker, 14-1), Fountain Tire (Barry Silk, 12-4), KMS Construction (Ben Gamble, 11-5) have locked down the top three positions and will be the favourties when playoffs begin on Feb. 21.
Barker will likely finish in first place after rolling to a 12-5 win over John’s Music (Ryan Wenarchuk) on Wednesday at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre. As was the case in every game that draw, things were close early, with the teams tied 2-2 through four ends. That all changed in the fifth, though, as Barker put up a six-ender for one of the biggest ends of the season and then added four more in the seventh to bring things to an end.
Wenarchuk fell to 8-8 and has the inside track on fourth place.
Gamble moved within a win of Silk for second thanks to a 7-5 victory in the meeting of two of the league’s top teams. Things looked good for Silk early, as singles in the second and fourth ends and deuce in the fifth made it 4-2 heading into the break, but Gamble took control with four in the sixth. The teams exchanged single points the next two ends, and KMS had their two-point win.
Big ends late in the game were the order of the day in the contest between Wade Gray (7-9) and Young and Young Automotive (Stan Barnsley, 7-9). Barnsley took a 4-2 lead out of the fourth end, but Gray took the lead with three in the fifth and then control with a steal of three in the sixth. Barnsley made it a one-point game coming home with three in the seventh, but Gray put the hammer to good use to score a pair in the final end for a 10-7 win.
EMJ Marketing (Joe Gunnis, 6-9) put together a string of points over the final three ends to take a 9-4 win over R.K. Sunview Farms (Dayne Heisler, 2-14). Gunnis got off to a good start with deuces in the first two ends, but Heisler rallied right back with two in the third and a steal of two in the fourth. That was the end of the good news for the young rink, though, as EMJ put up one in the fifth, stole two in the sixth and another two in the seventh to bring things to an early end.
Ryder Helmeczi (6-9) and Leeville Construction (Curtis Woloschuk, 5-10) had the closest game of the night. Helmeczi led 2-1 through three ends, but a three-spot made it 4-2 Woloschuk at the break. Deuces in the sixth and seventh gave Helmeczi a 6-4 lead coming home, but Woloschuk got his deuce to send things to extras. There, Helmeczi would get his one for the 7-6 win.
Original 16 Cash League action continues every Wednesday night at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre.
