Woodstock CI curlers run into ‘bearish’ market results at WOSSAA

The Woodstock CI Red Devils girls’ curling team, photographed following their TVRA South East championship victory at the Woodstock Curling Centre. The Red Devils finished out their season with WOSSAA silver medals earned Tuesday, March 4th at the London Curling Club. (Contributed Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

The Woodstock CI Red Devils girls’ curling team invested in silver medals after running into ‘bearish’ market conditions at the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA) curling championships on March 4 at the London Curling Club.

“They play together all the time and it shows,” said WCI coach Scott MacIntosh following an 11-2 loss to the Stratford District Secondary School Golden Bears in the girls’ final. “They were the better team on the ice that day. We could beat them, that game, they were just better. We were off and they were on.”

The Red Devils opened the WOSSAA draw with a comfortable 9-5 win over London South, leading from wire to wire. WCI scored one in the first end, stole two in the second and singlets in the third, fourth and fifth, before taking a commanding lead with a steal of three in the sixth end. London South narrowed the gap to four points with a two-point seventh end and steal of three in the eighth.

“We controlled it the whole game,” said MacIntosh.

The trend reversed in the final, with the Golden Bears notching two big ends, three and four scoring stones respectively.

“One of those games where we were hoping they’d make a mistake and we could capitalize on it,” said MacIntosh. “They did that to us.”

The Golden Bears are an accomplished rink which plays together in a competitive league credited MacIntosh. With the win, they added their second consecutive Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) berth to the WOSSAA title.

WCI also had a strong season, rolling through its Thames Valley Regional Athletics South East regular season and playoffs with an undefeated record, a significant improvement over the 3-6 mark during MacIntosh’s first year of coaching with them.

“A lot of that has to do with the girls playing at night,” he explained. “That’s where the improvement comes.”