Scott Manners rink had to steal a point in the 10th end of the SaskTel Provincial Men's Tankard in Assiniboia and did so to advance to the Battlefords' rink second extra end elimination game.
Sunday, Manners went up against Bruce Korte for the Tankard Championship and the opportunity to represent Saskatchewan at the Brier in Saskatoon beginning March 3.
After stealing a point in the 10th end, Manners put Korte between a rock and a hard spot. Korte looked to hit and stick through a small port and rolled just a little too far and Manners won the championship by a 6-5 score.
Manners, along with Tyler Lang, Ryan Deis and Mike Armstrong, are the first team to win the Tankard from the Battlefords Curling Club in the championship's 85-year history.
Manners and Deis are from Lloydminster while Lang and Armstrong are from Saskatoon and since Lloydminster isn't affiliated with Sask Curl, a central site was chosen to curl out of for the season.
Manners didn't qualify for the Tankard last year, when the tournament was held in the Civic Centre in North Battleford and things didn't look too promising for his team in their first game this year.
Manners lost their first match Wednesday by a 6-4 score at the hands of Braeden Moskowy.
After the loss dropped Manners to the B event they never looked back winning seven straight games to claim the championship.
In the B-event, Manners beat Brent Goeres 8-2, last year's Tankard champion Steve Laycock 9-5, Kevin Marsh 7-4, last year's Tankard finalist Carl deConinck Smith 8-2 and Jamie Schneider 8-0.
In the A versus B page playoff game, Manners beat Korte 7-6 earning a bye to the final after scoring one in the extra end.
In the rematch, it was close all the way with Manners eventually prevailing and changing from the underdog to the provincial champion.
The first year team was ranked 12th going into the Tankard, but in the end was the last of the 16 teams standing.
``Who would have come here and picked us first out of the 16 teams? Not too many,'' Manners said to Murray McCormick of the Leader-Post. ``We're here, we did it and we worked hard all year on and off the ice. I couldn't be more proud of my team right now.''
