Kevin Koe captured his fourth career provincial championship after defeating Brendan Bottcher 7-4 in the Boston Pizza Cup final Sunday in Wainwright, Alta.
Koe, who won both the Alberta and Brier titles a year ago, earned his first with the team of third Marc Kennedy, second Brent Laing and lead Ben Hebert. His previous teammates Pat Simmons, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen retained the Team Canada berth with John Morris at skip.
The Calgary-based Team Koe will represent Alberta in their hometown for the Tim Hortons Brier, starting Feb. 28.
Koe took two in the first and stole one in the second to open with a 3-0 lead.
Bottcher, playing in his first provincial final, settled for one in the third and Koe matched with a single in five to reclaim the three-point advantage at 4-1. The Edmonton native Bottcher made a nifty shot-of-the-year candidate to set up the draw for a deuce in six to narrow the gap to one.
But Koe battled right back and pulled away with a three-ender in seven to make it 7-3. Bottcher blanked the eighth but was held to a point in the ninth and the teams shook hands.
Earlier Sunday, Bottcher came out on top 7-4 over former teammate Mick Lizmore in the semifinal.
Koe beat Bottcher 6-4 in the page playoff A-vs-B game Saturday night to reach the final.