February 15...Sean Geall of New Westminster edged clubmate Jay Peachey, 8-7, in an extra end, to capture the Canadian Direct Insurance British Columbia championship Sunday in Maple Ridge.

The 10-team round robin saw Geall wind up in first place with a 7-2 record, while defending champion Bob Ursel of Kelowna finished out of the playoffs with a 4-5 mark.

Former provincial champion Peachey had to claw his way to the final, after completing the round robin tied for fourth place with Jeff Richard, each with 5-4 records.  Peachey first defeated Richard, 5-4 in the tiebreaker, then beat two-time Canadian and world champion Rick Folk of Kelowna, 7-4 in the Page 3-4 game.

Meanwhile, Geall edged Dennis Graber of Kamloops, the second place finisher, 6-5 in the Page 1-2 game to advance to the final.

Peachey then ousted Graber, 8-7 in an extra end semi-final, his sixth win in a row, to set up a rematch with Geall, whom he had lost to, 9-5, during the round robin.

The final was a tight one, as the teams exchanged leads throughout.  But a deuce in the eighth end gave Geall a 6-5 lead, then a steal of one in the ninth increased the margin to 7-5.  However, Peachey fought back with a deuce of his own in the 10th end to send it to overtime.

It's the first Brier appearance for Geall, while third Brent Pierce makes his third appearance, but first since 2000 in Saskatoon, when he played third for Brier and world champion Greg McAulay.    He also played third for McAulay in 1998 in Winnipeg.

Second Kevin Recksiedler played the same position for, ironically, Peachey, at the 2004 Nokia Brier in Saskatoon, when finishing third, while lead Mark Olson makes his Brier debut.

British Columbia has four Brier wins...the last by McAulay in 2000.

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