Girls’ rink making first trip to all-Ontarios

Tirzah Keffer and the rest of her Muskie girls’ rink went into the NWOSSAA curling playdowns with a catchy slogan.
“We had a motto our coach Dave [Bondett] put in our head: ‘Refuse to lose,’” enthused Keffer.

“It rhymes, too, so it’s good.”
Keffer and her rink of third Samantha Mueller, second Taylor Hartlin, and lead Carley Busch left Thunder Bay with much more, though, including a sparkling 5-0 record and a history-making trip to the all-Ontarios coming up March 24-27 in Toronto.
“It’s pretty cool,” Keffer enthused about being the first Muskie girls’ rink to advance to OFSAA.
“I don’t really know what else to say about that. It’s awesome.”
Keffer came within a hair of advancing to the all-Ontarios in her Grade 9 season when she was a part of Jenna Enge’s team that won NWOSSAA silver back in 2007.
That year, the black-and-gold went 4-1 during the round-robin, with a 4-3 loss being their lone blemish.
As such, Keffer was thrilled to have earned another shot at NWOSSAA gold and the chance to represent Fort High at the all-Ontarios.
“I’ve been working every year to get to this point,” she noted. “It’s a pretty big deal.
“I’m going to try to make the best of it,” she reasoned.
Keffer lauded Bondett for more than just his rhyming words of wisdom, crediting him for laying out a clear mission for their five matches at the Fort William Curling Club last week.
“Our coach said, ‘Don’t worry about ranks and positions as the other team, your goal is to win as many ends as possible,’ so we tried to do that,” she recalled.
“We stayed surprisingly calm and played our game.”
The skip also noted her team was able to rebound quickly from any missed opportunities, recognizing the mistakes came at times where a bounce-back was possible.
“We stayed positive, and if we missed a shot, we didn’t dwell on it and made our next one,” Keffer explained.
“That’s pretty much how we played our game.
“We made a lot of great draws and hits when we needed to when we were under pressure,” she added. “We just made the big shots that mattered.”
She also credited Bondett for helping to keep them calm through support and reinforcement.
“He’s worked with us so well and we owe him lots,” she remarked. “He’s always positive and is trying to make us better.”
She figured their toughest match at NWOSSAA came in the opening draw—a narrow 7-5 victory over Rainy River that came right down to the wire.
“Our closest game was with Rainy River,” Keffer noted. “I had to draw to the house, to the four-foot, to win.”
The Muskies then romped through their next four games, trouncing Nipigon-Red Rock 10-3, St. Ignatius 8-5, Superior 10-3, and Geraldton 6-2.
Keffer felt the rest of the field was made up of younger and less-experienced rinks, which made them easier fodder than the Owls.
“I felt because I’m older than a lot of the girls there, that kind of helped me,” she reasoned. “I just used that advantage, and I think I have a lot more experience than some of the girls.”
Keffer also felt the high level of play was beneficial for Busch and Hartlin as the two are NorWOSSA rookies.
“It was good experience because our front end had never had a competition like that before. It’s their first year of competition,” she noted.
The pressure was necessary practice for OFSAA given Fort High will see more capable opponents down in Toronto.
“I expect a lot tougher competition, and more shots will be made,” Keffer said. “We’re just going to expect them to make all of their shots.
“We’ll play our game and just stay focused.”
The Muskies’ game is more of a play-it-safe style, Keffer noted.
“It’s more conservative. We play really open. We don’t like any mess up in the front of the house, so we try to keep it clean,” she explained.
“We usually try to get two with hammer, and if they have hammer, we’ll try to hold them to one or we’ll steal.”
Bondett agreed it would be difficult for him to predict what exactly the black-and-gold will see at the all-Ontarios, but added they’re going to prepare for some top-flight competition.
“It’s new for all of us,” he said. “We expect everybody there to be good.”
Bondett praised his charges for their hard work throughout the time he’s been working with them, dating back to Keffer’s Grade 9 year in 2007 with these particular curlers.
“They’ve become a pretty accomplished team,” he enthused. “Everything’s been coming together.”