With berths at both the Montana’s Brier and Scotties Tournament of Hearts at stake, the NOCA Men’s & Women’s Provincial Curling Championships being staged at the North Bay Granite Club is kind of a big deal.

As the field of 23 teams (16 men; 7 women) continues to shrink, there have been no major surprises. The triple knockout 16-team field on the men’s side saw the heavy favourites reel off four straight wins, securing the "A" qualifier berth and a spot in the final Sunday at 6:00 p.m.

Ranked in the top ten in the world, the John Epping NCUCC (Northern Credit Union Community Centre) rink that includes Jacob Horgan, Tanner Horgan and Ian McMillan defeated, in succession, J.C. Beecroft (11-1), Kurtis Byrd (7-2), Brian Adams Jr (8-2) and Trevor Bonot (9-4) in earning the coveted slot.

The "B" qualifying berth will be decided on Saturday afternoon as Bonot and Adams Jr go toe to toe in a battle of the Thunder Bay rink, with the losing team sliding over to the "C" final.

That "C" berth still includes four teams in the mix, with Tyler Stewart and Mike Anderson battling it out, also on Saturday afternoon, the winner taking to the ice against the Sandy MacEwan (NCUCC) quintet on Sunday morning.

The survivor of that grind will the face either Team Bonot or Team Adams Jr - whichever did not walk off with the "B" slot.

On the women's side, it is the defending championship rink of Krista Scharf (formerly McCarville), Kendra Lilly, Ashley Sippala and Sarah Potts who will take a 5-0 record into the final women's draw Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.

Things are more jumbled behind them as Krysta Burns, Robyn Despins and Lauren Mann are all at 3-2, with none of these three facing each other in the final draw.

Burns (NCUCC) will meet JoAnne Forget (1-4), Mann (Idylwylde) will do battle with Bella Croisier (NCUCC - 1-4) with Despins wrapping things up opposite the undefeated Scharf foursome.

Still in the mix but needing a little help is the team skipped by Sudbury curler Abby Deschene, the squad representing the host North Bay Granite Club and having completed their round robin play, sitting at 2-4.