You couldn’t draw it up any more dramatic.
The Okotoks Curling Club’s Team Bachek had a draw for the 2024 Alberta Winter Games male curling gold in an extra-end and completed the assignment to defeat the hometown rink Team Myker 7-6 in Grande Prairie.
“I think it means a lot to me and my team,” said skip Kesler Bachek, an Okotokian. “It’s first year competitive for the other three and I know they’re really happy with that and for me to win a provincials means a lot, especially because it’s my first year as a competitive skip.”
In the extra-end, Team Bachek looked to keep as clean as few rocks in play as possible to set up a draw with hammer.
“We had to keep the house a little bit cleaner so it was a little bit easier to points in the end,” said Okotoks’ Dylan Miller, second on Team Bachek. “And then we just had an open draw to the button for the win.
“It was exciting and something I’ve never done before because this is only my third year curling.”
Team Bachek, which features Bachek, Strathmore third Andrew Southworth, Miller and Calgary lead Maxwell Ingram, went a perfect 3-0 in round-robin.
All three matches were of the nailbiter variety.
“We did not play very well those games, but I’m super happy that the boys are just resilient and that they know it’s not over until it’s over,” Bachek said. “They kept battling and we found a way to get out of those games with a win.”
In the playoff round, they punched their ticket to the final with a commanding 8-0 win over the Calgary Zone 3 rink.
“That was our best game of the tournament, to that point,” Bachek said. “We played very well throughout the lineup and we just made a lot of shots that would give us confidence for the finals.
“I think it was super important to play like we know we can, just to give us some confidence.”
Team Bachek continues its season with the U15 provincials in Lacombe and the legendary Marc Kennedy spiel.
Kesler’s younger sister Kingsley just missed out on a medal at the Games.
The second for the Calgary-based Team Sipka, Kingsley’s Zone 3 squad had a strong round-robin with three wins in as many games.
Okotokian Kaycee Johnston played third for Team McMillan which represented Zone 7 North East. The team finished in seventh spot at the Games.
For more information on the Alberta Winter Games, visit 2024awg.com.
