SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — A spot in the final will be on the line tonight at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Canada’s Jennifer Jones scored one in the 10th end to beat Ontario’s Krista McCarville 6-5 on Thursday night and clinch a spot in today’s page playoff.
Jones (8-3) will face off against Kathy O’Rourke’s P.E.I. rink (8-3) on Friday with the winner moving onto the final.
“It wasn’t our best tenth end,” Jones said. “You really just want to have a shot to the four-foot and I knew at the end of the day I was going to have a draw to the button and I felt good with draw weight that game so that’s all you really want.”
O’Rourke’s rink clinched a spot in the page playoff with a split earlier Thursday. After a 9-5 win over Shelley Nichols of Newfoundland and Labrador in the morning draw, P.E.I. sealed a spot in the playoff, despite a 10-5 loss to B.C.’s Kelly Scott in the afternoon.
“We were really emotionally tired out there (against B.C.),” said O’Rourke. “We just didn’t have the gas tonight. The last three games have been really scrappy, hard-fought games by us.”
B.C. (7-4) sits in third place after and 8-2 win over Newfoundland (4-7) in the evening draw.
Meanwhile, Manitoba’s Jill Thurston (7-4) beat Quebec’s Eve Belisle (5-6) 10-4 and will face McCarville (7-4) in a tiebreaker today.
B.C. advanced based on draws to the button held prior to each game.
The cumulative results were tallied and in favour of B.C. All three teams had identical won-loss records against each other in the round robin. The winner of the tie-breaker game will face B.C. on Saturday afternoon.
“(Canada) played absolutely fabulous,” McCarville said. “I’m definitely not disappointed in our play. We picked up our game tonight. (Canada) just made absolutely everything. There’s nothing you can do.”
Off-season conditioning is important for tournaments like the Scotties, which can comprise 15 games in an eight-day span.
“It’s a long week but being a curler for so many years at this level, we work out in the summer,” McCarville said. “That’s what it’s all for. For these types of competitions, playing two games a day and hopefully getting into the playoffs and tie-breakers.”
For B.C., Scott was pleased with the way their final round robin day turned out.
“We had a real, real good day,” Scott said. “Team dynamics, chemistry and just solid play. I think we’re ramping it up at the perfect time. We’re thrilled to be playing another day out there. It’s an arena full of energy. Certainly we’re excited to be playing and excited to be advancing through to the playoff round.”
In the other Draw 17 matchup, Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland defeated Alberta’s Valerie Sweeting 7-6.