Jim Cotter eased his final stone into the four-foot to get the winning single in the extra end and edge Brent Pierce 7-6 in the CDI B.C. men’s championship semifinal Saturday night in Vernon, B.C.
Cotter, the defending champ, now meets Dean Joanisse for the title and the right to represent B.C. at the Tim Hortons Brier.
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It was a back-and-forth game starting with Pierce stealing one in the first. Cotter bounced back to take two in the second and go up 2-1. The Kelowna native Pierce settled for one in the third and swiped a point in five to regain the lead 3-2.
The rinks traded deuces through six and seven to juggle the lead again and Cotter scored another pair in the eighth to grab the sixth different lead change of the game.
Cotter froze his final shot into the eight-foot circle to sit on the side of Pierce’s stone. Pierce was able to bounce Cotter’s stone back but it jammed and he couldn’t get second shot, tying the game 6-6 and forcing the extra frame.
The Kelowna/Vernon-based Cotter rink made a double takeout with their first skip stone giving them shot rock in the 12-foot circle. Pierce froze with his last and grabbed a piece of the eight-foot forcing his opponent to draw full eight to win and Cotter made no mistake landing on target.
Earlier, Joanisse topped Cotter 8-5 in the page playoff A-vs-B game to reach the final.
After Cotter opened the scoring with a three-ender in the first, Joanisse charged into the lead 4-3 with a deuce in the second and single steals in three and four. Cotter took one in the fifth to even it and Joanisse pulled back ahead in six with another pair of points to make it 6-4. Cotter was held to a single in seven and Joanisse added another two in the eighth.