Tournament Of Hearts Results 2005
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Ah, there’s the rub. And there’s another ... and another.
And so, with Prince Edward Island’s rocks glancing off guards at so many crucial times Friday night, Jennifer Jones and her Team Canada crew took full advantage of the miscues — and made some dandy shots of their own —to qualify for a third straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts final.
And this time they took the shortest route possible.
Team Canada posted an 8-5 triumph over Kathy O’Rourke’s Charlottetown team in the 1 vs. 2 game of the Page playoff system, before a crowd of 2,900 at the Essar Centre, collecting a free pass to Sunday’s final.
Jones, third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin, captured the 2008 and ’09 Canadian women’s curling titles — having to go through tie-breakers and semifinals to win those — and are gunning for the three-peat.
The Scotties final is slated for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (CST).
O’Rourke, who throws second stones but calls the shots, will play in the Scotties semifinal tonight at 6 p.m. (CST), the second chance she earned for finishing atop the round-robin standings at 8-3, the same mark as Jones.
O’Rourke is joined by lead Tricia Affleck, third Geri-Lynn Ramsay and Erin Carmody, who throws last rock.
Earlier, in an afternoon tie-breaker, Ontario’s Krista McCarville cruised to a 10-3 victory over Jill Thurston’s Manitoba foursome in just seven ends.
The McCarville team from Thunder Bay faces Kelly Scott of British Columbia today at 12 p.m. (CST) in the 3 vs. 4 game. The winner faces O’Rourke tonight.
On Friday night, Team Canada was efficient with the hammer against P.E.I., scoring deuces in the third, fifth an seventh ends. In the 10th, the skipper made a nice hit-an-roll to the button to put an exclamation point on the win.
Today, they get to relax and watch the others battle it out.
"We’re pretty excited to be back in the final. It’s a great feeling right now," said Jones, who also won in 2005. "You dream of winning one and you never know if you’re going to.
Now, we’ve won three ...and to have the opportunity to win four is really quite something."
Carmody, just 21 and playing in her very first Scotties, showed some nerves for the first time this week, rubbing guards on at least four crucial shots for P.E.I.
"They just rubbed a couple of guards and so maybe if they get by it’s a little bit of a different story. But we capitalized on our opportunities and made the most of it," said Jones.
O’Rourke said her team had chances for a couple of big ends, but just couldn’t convert.
"There was an inch here or a tick there and we were always on the other side of it for that game," she said. "We tried to just enjoy the experience and, hopefully, we’d come out with a win on our side. And you know we certainly had our opportunities to do that."
Meanwhile, the Manitoba champions had a great week, but just couldn’t match Ontario’s shot execution. Thurston and third Kristen Phillips, in particular, weren’t nearly as sharp as they needed to be to propel the Winnipeg team deeper into the playoffs.
As a team, Manitoba curled 79 per cent compared to Ontario’s 85 per cent. The front end -- second Leslie Wilson and lead Raunora Westcott -- curled over 90 per cent, but Phillips and Thurston were just 59 and 68, respectively.
"You can get away with half shots at some cash ‘spiels but not at a Canadian championship," said Thurston. "We made a couple of half-shots and I made a couple of no-shots, and that’s what happens.
"I’m disappointed. It wasn’t indicative of the way we played all week. It’s disappointing to go out and be flat like that."
After a tidy first end was blanked by Ontario, things went south in a hurry in the second end for the Manitobans, who could only stand by and watch as McCarville delivered one of the greatest shots of the week.
Rolling the dice on a long, raise-takeout for a big payoff, McCarville absolutely nailed it for three to seize control.
"We just said it’s risk vs. reward. If you miss it you only give up a steal of one. But to make it there’s a huge momentum shift so early in the game," McCarville explained.
The raised red rock slid about 12 feet, barely grazed another red Ontario rock and then hit the Manitoba yellow stone on the beak.
"She made a great shot. What can you do?" said Thurston.
The Scotties final goes Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (CST). The winner qualifies for the Ford world women’s championship, March 20-28 in Swift Current, Sask.
jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Jennifer Jones reminded everyone Friday that she won't surrender her Canadian women's curling championship without a fight.
Jones and her Team Canada crew of Cathy Overton-Clapham, Jill Officer and Dawn Askin delivered that message with an 8-5 victory over Prince Edward Island's Kathy O'Rourke in the 1 vs. 2 Page Playoff game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Team Canada advances to a Scotties final (Sunday, 1:30 p.m.) for the third straight year. O'Rourke dropped into today's semifinal at 6 p.m.
"We weren't as sharp as we wanted to be but we made a lot of big shots,'' Jones said Friday. "I thought we controlled the game, which was good and taking two early with the hammer was also good. Hopefully we'll be able to avoid some of our shaky moments at the end (in the final).''
The Islanders have generated most of the buzz here with Erin Carmody throwing skip stones and Geri-Lyn Ramsay, who is also 21, playing third. The two helped P.E.I. finish first in the round robin for the first time since 2003 but their youth surfaced on Friday night at the Essar Centre. The Islanders rubbed a number of guards and were inches away from making the big shots that seemed to define their run in the round-robin.
"We had our chances to score our threes but we just couldn't convert them,'' said O'Rourke, who throws second stones but calls the game. "There was an inch here or tick there and we were always on the wrong side of it for that game.''
A key was a steal of one by Jones in the eighth end after a Carmody was light on a draw against two. Jones grabbed control at that time with a 7-4 lead. O'Rourke felt some of the errors could be attributed to the youthfulness of her back end.
"How could it not?'' O'Rourke wondered. "We're the only game on . . . But we went out with the attitude that we are right where we want to be. There are a lot of curlers across the country who wish they were playing in the one-two game. I wanted them to enjoy the experience and hope that we came out with a win our side. We certainly had our opportunities but we had so much fun out there that I told the girls that we get to do it again (tonight).''
Jones is a win away from being only the third skip to win three straight Canadian titles. Jones would join Saskatoon's Vera Pezar (who won from 1971 to 1973) and Nova Scotia's Colleen Jones, who won four consecutive Canadian titles (2001 to 2004).
"You dream of winning one but you never know if you're going to,'' said Jones, who also won a national title in 2005. "Now we've won three and to have an opportunity to win four is quite something. Just having the opportunity to play in the final is fun. That's what we worked for all week.''
Ontario's Krista McCarville thumped Manitoba's Jill Thurston 10-3 in a tiebreaker held Friday. McCarville is to play B.C.'s Kelly Scott in the 3 vs. 4 Page Playoff game at noon. The winner advances to today's semifinal against O'Rourke.
McCarville, who curls out of Thunder Bay, executed a long raise for three in the second end against Thurston. The tough shot allowed McCarville to grab control of the match that ended after seven ends.
"We were really pumped up and we just kept going,'' McCarville said. "We never got down. We kept firing and making all of our shots.''
Thurston responded with two in the third end but was light on a draw for two in the fifth. She had to settle for one and a 5-3 disadvantage. McCarville hit for three in the sixth end and it was a matter of time before the teams would end the match.
"You can get away with half-shots at some cash bonspiels, but not at a Canadian championship,'' said Thurston. "We made a couple of half-shots and I had a couple of no shots. That's what happens. I missed that draw in the fifth end . . . You can't do that because it's a completely different game if I make it. If you can't draw, you can't skip.''
Sunday's champion will represent Canada at the Ford women's world championship, March 20-28 in Swift Current.
mmccormick@leaderpost.canwest.com
