Image: Curl B.C. / Team Clancy Grandy won the 2023 B.C. Scotties women's curling championships Sunday at the Chilliwack Curling Club. The team (in no particular order) consists of Clancy Grandy, Kayla MacMillan, Lindsay Dubue, and Sarah Loken. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack curling championships

New provincial curling champions emerge at Chilliwack Curling Club

Jan 17, 2023 | 9:11 AM

CHILLIWACK — The 2023 B.C. Scotties Women’s Curling Championship and the 2023 BC Men’s Curling Championship wrapped up over the weekend, with two new provincial champion teams minted at the Chilliwack Curling Club.

Team Clancy Grandy, of the Vancouver Curling Club, emerged as the new provincial women’s curling champions, while Team Jacques Gauthier of the Victoria Curling Club became the new provincial men’s champions.

Both will now move on to play for their respective national titles – for the women, the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Curling Championships in Kamloops will be held February 17-26; for the men, the Tim Horton’s Brier will be held in London, Ontario from March 3-12.

On the women’s side, Team Corryn Brown from the Kamloops Curling Club and Penticton Curling Club were matched against Team Clancy Grandy. Both teams hit the ice ready to play given that both of their previous meetings were high-scoring affairs, and curling fans knew they were in for a treat.

Team Brown struggled in the first two ends, allowing Team Grandy to steal three points. However, similar to the Page 1v2 game, Team Brown found a way to bounce back and score five points in the third end to go up 5-3. Team Grandy was forced to one point in the fourth end and posted another steal in the fifth end to head into the break in a tied game.

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At the beginning of the second half, Team Grandy was slightly outplaying Team Brown, who was forced to one in the sixth end. Team Grandy used a clean seventh end to secure a deuce to go up 7-6. It was a short-lived lead, with Team Brown making a precise tap back to get a deuce right back. In the ninth end, Team Grandy was able to get their two points to put them up by a point heading into the last end. Team Brown, being down 8-9, played a careful tenth end. They used their time out to call on the expertise of their coach, Jim Cotter. With a couple key misses, Team Brown was left with a shot for the single to trigger the extra end.

After a quick break, the teams were back on the ice for the extra end. It wasn’t clear who the winner was until Team Brown threw their last rock. The rock didn’t quite curl enough, and Team Grandy was sitting the one they needed to win the game and the 2023 BC Scotties Women’s title.

Team Grandy consists of Clancy Grandy, Kayla MacMillan, Lindsay Dubue, and Sarah Loken.

On the men’s side, Team Gauthier had their sights set on dethroning defending champs Team Pierce of the Royal City Curling Club. A perfect first end from Team Gauthier got them two points to open the game. They forced Team Pierce into a draw to the four foot in the second end for a single point, capitalizing off some key misses throughout the end. The third end did not end up setting up for Team Gauthier and they chose to blank the end. In the fourth end, it was Team Pierce’s turn to post a perfect end, forcing Team Gauthier to draw for their single. The fifth end was very open, but Team Pierce managed to score two points due to a missed double from Team Gauthier. With that, it was tied 3-3 heading into the break.

Image: Curl B.C. / Team Jacques Gauthier won the men’s B.C. curling championships Sunday at the Chilliwack Curling Club. The team (in no particular order) features Jacques Gauthier, Sterling Middleton, Jason Ginter, and Alex Horvath

Team Gauthier started the second half with the hammer. Play was concentrated around the center of the sheet for most of the sixth end, and Team Gauthier made a fantastic triple to clear the house of opposing rocks on their last shot to score two points. The seventh end saw a huge cleanup at second’s rocks from Team Pierce to keep it open, but an unfortunate jam on a late hit forced them to the single. A messy eighth end didn’t leave much room for Team Gauthier to score, and they ended up allowing a steal of a single point. With the game tied up heading into the ninth end, the intensity was at an all time high. Some precise hits from Team Gauthier, paired with some key misses from Team Pierce allowed the team from Victoria to go up by three points headed into the closing end. Well-executed game play in the last end propelled Team Gauthier to victory.

Team Gauthier took the game and the B.C. Men’s title 8-5, after running Team Pierce out of rocks. Team Gauthier is comprised of Jacques Gauthier, Sterling Middleton, Jason Ginter, and Alex Horvath.