KENORA, Ont. – Trevor Bonot’s run at the Northern Ontario playdowns came to a crashing halt in the semifinal round.
Bonot, who advanced to the 1-2 Page Playoff after winning three straight to open the championship in Kenora, on Sunday morning dropped his second straight match, falling 7-5 to Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan, who advances to the final against fellow Sudburian Sandy MacEwan.
Horgan took control the match in the ninth, scoring two when Bonot couldn’t hold his shooter, leaving his 24-year-old opponent an easy hit-and-stick for two, and a 7-5 lead.
Plenty of stones were in play in the 10th, but Horgan and his teammates, lead Colin Hodgson, second Jacob Horgan and third Darren Moulding, clogged up the inner rings, leaving Bonot facing the reality of making two difficult shots to score a pair and send the match to an extra end.
He missed his first, and Bonot, lead Kurtis Byrd, second Jordan Potts and third Mike McCarville, after surveying the landscape at the Kenora Recreation Centre, decided there was no possible way to remove enough of Team Horgan’s stones and shook hands.
“We had a really good week,” Bonot said, after watching his sister, Jackie McCormick, fall 12-6 to Sudbury’s Krysta Burns in the women’s semifinal, the game taking place two sheets over.
“We just came out a little flat in the playoffs. That happens, but I’m really proud of the team for persevering in the playoffs when we got down. Will look to next year now, and we can’t wait.”
Horgan made the shots when it mattered most, said Bonot, who led 4-3 after six, but gave up two without hammer in the seventh, an end after scoring a pair to take a one-point lead.
“We got fooled by the ice a little bit today. It was a little straighter, a little quicker and we just weren’t getting the finish we had been all week. A couple of shots didn’t finish up like we thought they would. In the eighth we actually had one that did finish up, with more weight,” Bonot said.
“I think we just got tricked a few times and unfortunately it didn’t work out in our favour today.”
Bonot said being down two, even with hammer, in the 10th is never an easy prospect. With the five-guard rule, he knew he had a chance, but to bounce back, he and his teammates had to make their shots.
“We snuck out a game against them earlier in the week that we probably shouldn’t have. To do it twice in a week would have been really tough. But down two, you’re in control with the five-rock free guard zone, so you have those opportunities,” he said.
“You just have to make all eight shots. If you make all eight, you’re in good position. We just didn’t that today. We were just a little heavy, had some ticks on guards. Things like that happen.”
The women’s final takes place at 3 p.m., featuring Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville and Sudbury’s Burns.
