On her 16 birthday, Addison Hyatt led the Stratford District Golden Bears to a sweet victory at the WOSSAA curling championships.
Hyatt made a difficult takeout shot with her last shot in the eighth end to take one point and secure an 8-6 win over Woodstock C.I. in the semifinal in Clinton.
The Golden Bears were in control for all of the gold medal game, coach Shane Restall said, in a 9-6 win over London Catholic Central.
Restall said he could not have predicted such a big win. In his 20 years of coaching curling at area high schools, he never had a team do this well.
"This team is brand new," the coach told StratfordToday. "Three Grade 9s and Addison is in Grade 10. I had them ranked as the second best team at our school going into the Perth playdowns."
The Golden Bears won the Huron-Perth title on the final shot when Hyatt put into the four-foot behind cover to steal the victory 8-6 over host Listowel.
The coach noted it was a special occasion for Hyatt at WOSSAA, celebrating a birthday and a big win, that sends the Golden Bears to the OFSAA curling championships in Kingston March 20-23.
"It was amazing. Even better her father (Paul) was there and got the entire (curling) club to sing her happy birthday."
The Golden Bears will be joined by 17 other teams from across the province.
Restall said high schools will be sorted into groups of six at the provincials, so they will play five games for sure.
"Some of these curlers will be quite good. We will probably be ranked low. But they have come from behind and surprised everyone since we started. I am going in with positive expectations."
