Brendan Bottcher has made it to the championship game of the Alberta Boston Pizza Cup in Westlock.
Bottcher rolled past Charley Thomas 8-3 in Saturday’s Page A vs. B playoff to advance to the final of the men’s provincial curling tournament.
A new Alberta champion will be crowned as Calgary’s Kevin Koe is not defending the title having earned the Team Canada auto-berth back to the Tim Hortons Brier.
Thomas, who finished runner-up to Koe a year ago, drops to the semifinal and will play Edmonton’s Ted Appelman Sunday morning.
Appelman eliminated Aaron Sluchinski of Airdrie 10-6 in the Page C vs. C playoff.
Earlier, Sluchinski slid past Edmonton’s James Pahl 9-5 and Appelman edged Edmonton’s Mick Lizmore 7-6 to qualify for the playoffs.
NOTES: Watch live coverage of the Alberta Boston Pizza Cup Sunday starting with the semifinal on Sportsnet at 11 a.m. MT followed by the final on Sportsnet One at 5 p.m. MT. … The winner will represent Alberta at the Tim Hortons Brier running March 4-12 in St. John’s, N.L.
