REGINA – Trevor Bonot’s strong play has Team Northern Ontario in contention for a playoff spot in his first trip to the Montana’s Brier.
Bonot made a draw for three on his final shot of the ninth end on Tuesday in Regina and knocked off Scott Howard’s Ontario rink 10-6, picking up his fourth win in five outings.
The Thunder Bay skip scored three in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead and, after Howard cut the gap to 5-4 with a deuce in the sixth, Bonot took advantage when his opponent’s final stone went deep, leaving a shot for two.
Bonot finessed his shot into the rings and, after a measurement, got the extra point to restore a three-rock lead, up 7-6.
A flash on his final stone left Howard with a draw for two in eight, but his luck ran out in the ninth.
Howard was light on his last and Bonot, who curled 89 per cent in the match, just needed a piece of the four-foot to score three.
He made it and the two teams shook hands.
Howard slipped to 2-3 with the loss and Bonot took over top spot in the Pool A standings with the triumph, after Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers (3-1) was edged 9-8 by British Columbia’s Catlin Schneider, Team Northern Ontario’s opponent in Tuesday night’s draw.
Bonot, Carruthers, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher (3-1) and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (3-1) all sit with one loss.
Bonot has Wednesday off and plays Dunstone and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin (1-2) on Thursday to wrap up round-robin play.
