麻豆社区

Long-time Yukon junior skip Thomas Scoffin has again made his way into the provincial playdowns 鈥� this time in Alberta.

The 18-year-old curler skipped the University of Alberta Golden Junior Bears to a berth in the provincials last weekend in Edson, Alta.

The Northern Alberta Curling Association's junior playdowns were held Dec. 7 to 9.

Scoffin's rink, which includes twin brothers and defending junior champions Bryce and Landon Bucholz at first and second, qualified out of the B event. Dylan Gosseau is the rink's third.

The rink is based out of the Saville Sports Centre in Edmonton.

"We played on some challenging ice conditions, but played well as a unit and came out with a 4-1 record,鈥� Scoffin told the Star last week. "It feels great to accomplish our first goal for the season, which was to qualify for provincials.鈥�

Scoffin downed Brayden Power's rink 10-7 in his opening game, scoring five points in the eighth end to put an exclamation mark on the match.

The Junior Bears went on to drop their second game 6-4 to Dylan Theroux's rink, pushing them into the B pool.

In their third match of the tournament, Scoffin's rink came from behind, scoring eight unanswered points to defeat Corey Leach 12-9.

The Junior Bears then jumped out to an early 4-0 lead over Logan Mortemore in an eventual 9-4 win.

The B final was a rematch of the first game, and once again Scoffin's rink dumped Power's by a score of 8-4, after building a quick 5-0 lead in the first two ends.

The win was a satisfying one for Scoffin and the Junior Bears. His rink is currently ranked third among junior men's rinks in Alberta.

"From here, we're taking it one step at a time and preparing over the Christmas break to make a run at the provincial title and to get to Junior Nationals,鈥� he said.

The Alberta Curling Federation's Subway Junior Men's and Women's Provincial Championships will be held Jan. 9 to 13 in Edmonton.

The winners will move on to the 2013 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Fort McMurray Jan. 31 to Feb. 10.

As for Team Koltun, the junior women's rink competed in Lloydminster in early December at a World Curling Tour Event 鈥� the Boundary Ford Curling Classic.

There, they finished 1-3. The rink consists of skip Sarah Koltun, second Patty Wallingham, and the Duncan sisters 鈥� third Chelsea and lead Jenna.

The team's next competition will be the Yukon Championships, tentatively scheduled to occur this weekend in Teslin.

Yukon Curling Association executive director Linden Mattie said two junior men's teams and two junior women's teams have registered for the territorial playdowns.