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Okanagan rink captures Grand Slam event

John Morris, Jim Cotter, Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky win Princess Auto Elite 10 in Nova Scotia
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The John Morris-Jim Cotter foursome, also featuring Kelowna’s Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky, won the Princess Auto Elite 10 curling event Sunday in Port Hawkesbury, N.S. -Image credit: Anil Mungal/Sportsnet

The John Morris-Jim Cotter team fell short of its own expectations by missing the playoffs earlier this month at the Tim Hortons Brier in St. John’s, NL.

A little more than a week later, the Okanagan-based rink gained a measure of redemption with a big win in Port Hawkebsury, N.S.

The 2017 B.C. champs edged Sault St. Marie’s Brad Jacobs 1-up on Sunday to capture the Princess Auto Elite 10 title, the fifth event of the season on the Pinty’s Grand Slam series.

And the win came in dramatic fashion. With four in the house in the final end, but not sitting shot, Cotter angle-raised one of his team’s own rocks to chip out Jacobs’s counter for the winning point.

The Kelowna-Vernon team, which also features second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatsky, earned $26,000 for the victory and along with it, a berth in the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup in Calgary.

“It was a great week and it feels super good,” Cotter said. “We played in a lot of these events and have been close a few times. To pull out the win just feels great. Hats off to the team this week. They played great, we really hung in there and played well.”

While it’s the 11th time Morris has found the winner’s circle in the series, it’s his first with Cotter, Griffith and Rick Sawatsky. Cotter, Griffith and Sawatsky were runners-up twice in the series and captured the inaugural Tour Challenge Tier 2 title in 2015.