Jennifer Jones doesn’t spend a lot of time looking at the standings at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and contemplating what could or could not happen.
Instead the four-time Canadian champion from Winnipeg just takes care of business and lets the rest take care of itself.
And that’s plenty as she wrapped up first place in the round-robin Thursday afternoon with a 7-4 victory over Marie-France Larouche of Quebec at the Centrium.
The win gave Jones an 8-2 record, which she built on with 5-3 win over Tracy Horgan of Ontario in the final round-robin draw in the evening.
Jones knew it was a big game against Larouche, but had no idea it meant first place.
“To be honest with you I didn’t think about it,” she said while being surrounded by the media. “It wasn’t until 30 seconds ago that I found out I’d be playing (in the one-two playoff game) Friday. But it’s nice. We’ll be able to get a little sleep, but then everything is fresh and we’ll need to be sharp.”
She was certainly that against Larouche, who could have grabbed a share of first place with a win. Larouche did secure a playoff spot with a 7-5 win over Horgan in the morning.
Jones felt the win over Larouche was her best game so far this week.
“I thought the girls played great in front of me and made my life easy,” she said. “That was probably our best game as a team. We played a good 10 ends and didn’t take any ends off. I thought we picked up the ice quickly and came out and played well. Now we want to build on that tonight.”
She did just that, although she had her hands full until a deuce in the seventh gave her a 4-3 lead, which she extended with a steal of one in the ninth.
“I thought we played well. There were a couple of good shots, and a couple of misses, now hopefully we’ll be sharp tomorrow.”
Jones faces Kelly Scott of B.C. in the one vs. two Page playoff at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
“We had a great game against B.C. in the round-robin and I don’t expect anything less,” said Jones.
Scott , who lost 8-6 to Jones in the round-robin, is thrilled to face her again.
“She’s top notch and they said going into the tournament it was her’s to lose and we’re thrilled to get a chance to go against her,” she said following a heart-stopping 7-6 last-rock win over Rebecca Atkinson of New Brunswick in the final draw.
The teams were tied 6-6 heading home and Scott pulled off a perfect come-around draw to the button with her final stone. Andrea Kelly, who throws skip rocks for Atkinson, had a chance to come around and tap it out, but just slid by.
“I thought it was a really well-played game,” said Scott. “There weren’t many opportunities either way and came right down to the wire. That could have been a semifinal or final game. It was good practice for us and we had to make our last shot to be in this position. Today was a solid, solid day and I like what the team looks like.”
Finishing second and getting a second chance, if they lose to Jones, is a definite advantage, says Scott.
“That’s where you want to be, but we weren’t scoreboard watching, just focusing on what we had to do.”
Scott, who beat Kim Dolan of Prince Edward Island 8-5 in the morning, finished with an 8-3 record
Jones is very familiar with the playoff format and the one-two Page playoff game.
“We’ve played in the one-two game before and we haven’t, you just want to go into the playoffs and play well. I know we’re just thrilled to be there. Experience never hurts as we know what to expect. It’s not necessary to have that experience, but it’s definitely on our side as we’ve been there before in a lot of different ways.”
Jones is pleased with the way the week has gone so far.
“You never expect to go undefeated. There were a couple of blips along the way, but overall we’re happy.”
So is Larouche. In fact she wasn’t disappointed with her play against Jones.
“Jenn played very well. There were maybe two of my rocks I didn’t like . . . We found something not good about them. But my team played very well.”
She feels they’re in a good frame of mind heading into Saturday’s three-four playoff game at 11 a.m. against Heather Nedohin and Alberta.
“We’re just confident enough right now. I think we’re able to be better, which is good for us . . . maybe we’ll get revenge against her.”
Larouche knew they came into the championships as a dark horse.
“For sure,” she said. “This is our first year together as a team and we didn’t play a lot of ‘spiels this year.”
They only played one World Curling Tour event — in Brantford — and lost all their games.
“But what’s important is for us to be here now and we’re in a good position.”
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com