OTTAWA – Alberta’s Kevin Koe advanced to the semifinal at the Tim Hortons Brier on Saturday afternoon with a 7-5 win over Mike McEwen of Manitoba in the Page Playoff 3-4 game.
Koe will play Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs in the evening semifinal for a berth in Sunday’s gold-medal game against Brad Gushue. Newfoundland and Labrador advanced straight to the championship with a win over Northern Ontario in the 1-2 game Friday night.
Koe had hammer to start after securing the No. 3 seed and used it to score a pair in the second end after an opening blank.
McEwen got on the board in the third with a single. He wrecked on a guard with his first throw in the fourth and had to make a nice double takeout just to leave Koe laying one.
The veteran Alberta skip delivered with a draw for the pair and moved ahead 4-1. Koe kept the pressure on and forced McEwen to give up a steal of one in the fifth.
After the teams exchanged singles, McEwen drew the four-foot for a pair to cut the lead to 6-4. Koe scored a single in the ninth and ran McEwen out of rocks in the 10th for the win.
McEwen will play Sunday afternoon for the bronze medal against the semifinal loser.
Alberta lead Ben Hebert was named to the second all-star team during a break before the fourth end. Gushue and third Mark Nichols of Newfoundland and Labrador were also named to the second team with second E.J. Harnden of Northern Ontario in voting by the Canadian Curling Reporters.
B.C. second Tyrel Griffith won the Ross Harstone Trophy for good sportsmanship. The first all-star team will be announced Saturday night.
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