VICTORIA, February 27, 2009 (CCA) — Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones took another step towards a date in Sunday’s final at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship Saturday at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Jones and her defending Canadian and world championship team from Winnipeg — third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin — turned back Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton 8-6 in the Page playoff three-four game on Saturday.
With the win, Team Canada advanced to Saturday night’s semifinal against Marie-France Larouche of Quebec at 8 p.m. (all times Atlantic) on TSN.
Jones needed to make a draw to the four-foot to beat Saskatchewan, and the win wasn’t secure until her final stone nestled up to the backing in the four-foot.
“We like to keep the crowd excited,” said Jones. “Most of our games are pretty close. Most of the quarter-inches, I would say 90 per cent of them, were going against us for the first two-thirds of the week. Now they’re in our favour, and hopefully we can keep that going tonight. That’s what we practise for, this is what we love to do, and win our lose, we sure had a lot of fun.”
Jones forced Saskatchewan to one in the first end, then came back with two in the second, and posted stolen single points in the third and fourth ends to take control.
Lawton — backed up by third Marliese Kasner, second Sherri Singler and lead Lana Vey — fought her way back, and got deuces in the seventh and ninth ends to cut Canada’s lead to one, and force Jones to make the shot for the win in the 10th.
“We played hard. We’re disappointed, definitely, but they made some great shots and we just couldn’t follow it up,” said Lawton. “We had a great week. I’m very proud of the girls. We played hard and we played with everything that we had. Great week.”
The winner of the Canada-Quebec game on Saturday night will play Marla Mallett of B.C. in Sunday’s championship game at 9 p.m. on TSN.
The winner of Sunday’s final advances to the world women’s championship, set for March 21 to 29 in Gangneung, South Korea.
The Charlottetown Curling Club rink of Kyle Stevenson, Donna Butler, Doug MacGregor, and Tricia Affleck stole singles in the second, seventh and eighth ends this afternoon as they beat the Adam Casey foursome by a 7-3 score, to win the A divison of the double knockout M&M Meat Shops Provincial Mixed Curling Championship being played at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary. The A division win advances the Stevenson team to the 2 pm Sunday final.
Tonight at 7, the Stevenson rink will play the Blair Jay team from the Silver Fox, while the Casey squad will play the Larry Dewar foursome from Montague. The winners of these games advance to the B final, Sunday morning at 9. Should Stevenson be in the B final and win it, he will take the championship without the 2 pm game. If not, the B final winner faces off against Stevenson at 2.
Jay advanced to tonight’s game with a 9-4 win this afternoon over clubmate Leo Stewart, while Dewar scored three triples, and followed a four-ender with a stolen single in a high-scoring 14-8 shootout against defending champion Bill Hope of Charlottetown. Stevenson won this event in 2006, while Dewar won in 2005. Jay and teammate Douglas Simmons are on this year’s Seniors championship rink. Casey and teammate Anson Carmody were recently crowned Canadian Junior champions, while Geri-Lynn Ramsay and Erin Carmody from the Casey rink are reigning PEI junior women’s champs.
The PEI Mixed champion will advance to the 2010 Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, November 15-22, 2009 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club in Burlington Ontario.
JAMES BISSON – THE CANADIAN PRESS
VICTORIA — P.E.I.’s quest to reach the Page playoffs at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts came up short.
Less than a centimetre short.
Canada’s Jennifer Jones earned steals in the 10th and 11th ends to rally for a thrilling 6-5 win over P.E.I.’s Robyn MacPhee in Friday’s tiebreaker.
VICTORIA, February 27, 2009 (CCA) — B.C.’s Marla Mallett is one victory away from claiming her first Canadian women’s curling championship.
Mallett and her team from the Vancouver Curling Club posted a 7-5 win over Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche Friday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Page playoff one-two game.
With the win, Mallett, third Grace MacInnes, second Diane Gushulak and lead Jacalyn Brown advance to Sunday’s 9 p.m. (all times Atlantic) championship final on TSN.
The teams were tied 2-2 through five ends of a defensive struggle. But in the sixth end, Larouche’s attempt to hit and roll behind a guard failed to curl enough, and Mallett made the open hit to score three.
Quebec had a chance to cut the lead in the seventh as Larouche had to draw the eight-foot to score two. But her draw weight was lacking and she didn’t touch the paint and had to settle for a single, and B.C. took control for good with two in the eighth end.
“One game, baby. That’s what we’re here for,” said Mallett. “It feels great. There’s still a lot of work to be done. And like I’ve been saying all week, we’re back to the process. We’re going to go out, we’ve got to throw the right weight, and we’ll see what happens.”
Quebec gets a second chance at reaching the final on Saturday when it plays the winner of the Page three-four game in the semifinal at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton takes on Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones in the three-four game Saturday at 3:30 p.m.; both Saturday games will be televised by TSN.
The winner of Sunday’s final advances to the world women’s championship, set for March 21 to 29 in Gangneung, South Korea.
Meanwhile, the first and second all-star teams were announced following the B.C. victory.
Named to the first team were Lawton, Team Canada third Cathy Overton-Clapham, Gushulak and Saskatchewan lead Lana Vey.
Named to the second team were Mallett, MacInnes, Saskatchewan second Sherri Singler and Quebec lead Joelle Sabourin.
VICTORIA, February 27, 2009 (CCA) — Jennifer Jones’s bid to repeat as national and world champion nearly came to an end on Friday afternoon at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
But the Team Canada skip and her Winnipeg teammates — third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin — found a way to win against all odds during a fourth-place tiebreaker at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship.
Team Canada stole points in the 10th and 11th ends to beat Rebecca Jean MacPhee of Prince Edward Island 6-5.
MacPhee had tough shots for a win in both ends after Jones had drawn to bite the button behind centre guards. In both cases, MacPhee’s rock made contact with the Team Canada counter, but spun off just far enough to give Team Canada the points it needed.
With the win, Team Canada advances to Saturday’s Page playoff three-four game against Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton at 2:30 p.m. (all times Eastern) on TSN.
“We got a couple misses out of them, but we made our shots as good as we could, and made her make a tough one,” said Jones. “That last shot was not easy, and she almost made it. That’s all you can ask for when you’re trying to steal, and we were on the right side of the inch there.”
Play at the Scotties continues on Friday with the Page playoff one-two game featuring Marla Mallett of B.C. and Marie-France Larouche of Quebec. The winner advances to Sunday’s 9 p.m. championship game, while the loser drops to Saturday’s 8 p.m. semifinal.
The winner of Sunday’s final advances to the world women’s championship, set for March 21 to 29 in Gangneung, South Korea.
PEI’s Robyn MacPhee attempted a light takeout on her last shot in an extra end in tonight’s Scotties tiebreaker against Jennifer Jones and Team Canada, but both rocks ended up touching the edge of the four foot, with the MacPhee rock ending up in second place by a narrow margin, giving Team Canada a 6-5 victory, and ending PEI’s playoff run. Team Canada now advances to Saturday’s three-four Page playoff game at 3:30 p.m. on TSN against Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton. Saskatchewan was awarded third place because it recorded wins over both Team Canada and P.E.I.
MacPhee’s shot was almost a carbon copy of her tenth end final shot, which ended up in exactly the same situation, and forced the extra end.
A year ago in Regina, Jones’s Manitoba team finished 7-4 and needed to come out of a tiebreaker en route to winning the Canadian and world championship.
“We have to play as good as we can and hopefully that’s good enough to keep going,” said Jones going in to Friday’s assignment against P.E.I. “I thought we controlled that game (earlier, against B.C.). It felt pretty good from start to finish. We needed to come out and better, and I thought we did tonight. We’re still alive, and that’s all you can ask for.”
B.C., meanwhile, will play in the Page playoff one-two game Friday at 10:30 p.m. against Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche, who prevailed out of the 7-4 teams through the tiebreaker formulas to place second in the round-robin. B.C. lost both of its games on Thursday.
The winner of the Page one-two game goes to Sunday’s 9 p.m. championship final, while the loser drops to Saurday’s 8 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the three-four game.
The winner of Sunday’s championship final advances to the world women’s championship, set for March 21 to 29 in Gangneung, South Korea.
More from the Canadian Press in The Guardian
The Montague Curling Club is the host for the 2009 M&M Meat Shops Provincial 15 and Under Curling Championships, which get underway this morning and finish on Sunday or Monday. Eight boys and nine girls teams are taking part. Defending champions are the Matthew MacLean and Tiffany Sweet teams, both from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary. Sweet has graduated to the 17 and Under event this year, but MacLean is back to defend his title. Both boys and girls divisions wil play a two-pool round robin format, with a three-game championship round. If there are no tiebreakers, the final will be Sunday at six pm; otherwise it will go Monday at 4:30 pm.
In opening round play Thursday night at the M&M Meat Shops Provincial Mixed Curling Championship, defending champion Bill Hope of Charlottetown lost 12-7 to 2005 winner Larry Dewar, from the Montague Curling Club. Dewar built a big lead early by following a second end triple with stolen deuces in three and four. In other games, 2007 champ Kyle Stevenson of Charlottetown got by clubmate Nick van Ouwerkerk by a 9-7 score, Jeff Nelson of Montague beat least year’s runner-up, Rob Young of Cornwall 9-2, taking four points in the sixth end, and Crapaud’s Tony Quigley, who got off to a fast start with four points in the first end, and three in the second, went on to beat David Murphy of Charlottetown 11-9.
Double-knockout play continues on Friday with draws at 9, 2, and 7. Saturday draws are also at 9, 2 and 7, with the A final at 2. The B final goes Sunday morning at 9, with the championship game following at 2. In the event that the same team wins both A and B, the championship game will not be required.
The winning team will advance to the 2010 Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, which take place November 15-22, 2009 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club in Burlington Ontario.
Team Canada forced to tiebreaker; BC playing Quebec in Page one-two
VICTORIA, February 26, 2009 (CCA)— Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones will need to go the tiebreaker route for a second straight year if she wants to repeat as Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion.
Jones made a clutch draw for a single point in the 10th end in the final round robin draw on Thursday night, looking at two opposition counters, for a 6-5 triumph over B.C.’s Marla Mallett.
With the victory, Team Canada finished at 7-4, part of a four-way tie behind first-place B.C., which closed out round-robin play at 8-3.
On Friday, Team Canada will play Prince Edward Island’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee in a fourth-place tiebreaker at 5 p.m. (all times Atlantic) on TSN. The winner advances to Saturday’s three-four Page playoff game at 3:30 p.m. on TSN against Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton. Saskatchewan was awarded third place because it recorded wins over both Team Canada and P.E.I.
P.E.I. advanced to the tiebreaker after two wins on Friday – 8-7 over Team Canada and 7-5 over first place B.C. Islanders were in a stealing mood early against B.C., taking two in the second end and one more in the third to build a 3-0 lead, and they never trailed the rest of the way.
“That’s a big day; we’re just delighted,” said P.E.I. skip Rebecca Jean MacPhee. “We knew we had to come out and play a strong two games today, and we feel we did. It’s been fabulous. Robyn (MacPhee, Rebecca Jean’s younger sister, who throws last rock) played just phenomenal, and now we just have to keep going and hope for the best.”
A year ago in Regina, Jones’s Manitoba team finished 7-4 and needed to come out of a tiebreaker en route to winning the Canadian and world championship.
“We have to play as good as we can and hopefully that’s good enough to keep going,” said Jones of Friday’s assignment against P.E.I. “I thought we controlled that game (against B.C.). It felt pretty good from start to finish. We needed to come out and better, and I thought we did tonight. We’re still alive, and that’s all you can ask for.”
B.C., meanwhile, will play in the Page playoff one-two game Friday at 10:30 p.m. against Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche, who prevailed out of the 7-4 teams through the tiebreaker formulas to place second in the round-robin. B.C. lost both of its games on Thursday.
“It’s a great spot to be in,” said Mallett of the one-two game. “Unfortunately, we didn’t finish up so good here today, but we’re looking forward to getting back on the ice as soon as we can. It wasn’t too bad. There are certainly some things we need to improve on, and we’ll be sure to discuss those and fix those for our next game.”
The winner of the Page one-two game goes to Sunday’s 9 p.m. championship final, while the loser drops to Saturday’s 8 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the three-four game.
Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard had a chance to get in the tiebreaker mix with a win Thursday night, but couldn’t muster more than a single point in any end to lose 6-5 in an extra end to Ontario’s Krista McCarville. Ontario picked up deuces in the third and sixth ends en route to the win, but Alberta fought back to force the extra end with a steal of one in the 10th. In the 11th, McCarville made a draw to backing in the four-foot for the win, which left both teams with 6-5 records.
In the other Draw 17 game, Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery put a bookend on a disappointing trip to the Hearts. Nova Scotia won its first and last round-robin games, and lost nine in between to head home with a 2-9 record. McConnery drew the four-foot in an extra end for a 7-6 win over Newfoundland/Labrador, which finished up at 5-6.
The winner of Sunday’s championship final advances to the world women’s championship, set for March 21 to 29 in Gangneung, South Korea.
(more later)
PEI’s MacPhee rink, with Rebecca Jean calling the game, and Robyn throwing last rocks, aided by Shelley Muzika at second, and lead Tammi Lowther, handed first place British Columbia, skipped by Mara Mallet, their second loss of the tournament this afternoon, as Robyn hit against two with her final shot to score one and win 7-5.
This puts PEI and Quebec, who beat Saskatchewan 7-5, with 7-4 win-loss records. Despite BC’s loss to PEI, they have first place sewn up with an 8-2 record. Three teams – Team Canada (Jennifer Jones), Alberta (Cheryl Bernard), and Saskatchewan (Stephanie Lawton) are at 6-4.
Meanwhile, the surprising Northwest Territories/Yukon team skipped by Kerry Galusha, beat Ontario’s Krista McCarville rink 9-7. Ontario is 5-5, while Galusha finishes play at 3-7.
The final round-robin draw, at 10:30 Atlantic sees Alberta play Ont., Sask. take on Manitoba (2-8), Team Canada face BC, and Nova Scotia (1-9) play Nfld./Labrador (5-5),
VICTORIA, February 26, 2009 (CCA) — Prince Edward Island’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee added to Team Canada’s woes on Thursday morning at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
MacPhee’s Charlottetown quartet — with sister Robyn at third (and throwing last rock), second Shelley Muzika and lead Tammi Lowther) — took an extra end to beat Jennifer Jones’s defending champs from Winnipeg 8-7 in Draw 15 play at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The win, combined with the other Draw 15 results, left both teams part of a logjam of six teams tied with four losses behind the leading duo of Marla Mallett of B.C. (8-1) and Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan (6-3), who both had byes for the morning draw.
The Islanders held their breath as Jones barely missed a runback double takeout to score a winning pair in the 10th end, and then Robyn MacPhee made an open takeout for the win in the 11th.
“Well, we knew we had to come in and win both games today, and we’re off to the start we need,” said Rebecca Jean MacPhee, who completes round-robin play this afternoon against B.C. “it was a good, it was back and forth. We had a steal, they had a steal, and we just played well. We came out and we were firing the way we wanted to.”
In other morning play, Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard improved to 6-4 with a come-from-behind win over Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon. The Territories took a 3-0 lead early, and were up 3-1 when Galusha had an angle-takeout to score four in the fourth, but her rock overcurled and she had to settle for one. Alberta fought back to tie it with three in the fifth, and stole one in the seventh and two more in the eighth and never looked back. The loss dropped the Territories to 3-7.
Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche snapped a two-game losing streak by thumping Barb Spencer of Manitoba 9-4. Quebec, 6-4, scored three in both the third and ninth end to drop Manitoba’s record to 2-8.
In the other morning game, New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly stole two in the fifth end, one more in the sixth, and won the game with a 10th-end deuce for a 9-8 victory over Nancy McConnery of Nova Scotia. New Brunswick moved to 4-6; Nova Scotia dipped to 1-9.
Round-robin play at the Scotties concludes later Thursday with draws at 5 p.m. (all times Atlantic) and 10:30 p.m. on TSN. As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available from TSN.ca.
The top four teams following the conclusion of round-robin play on Thursday night will make the Page playoffs. The first- and second-place teams will play either Friday or Saturday, with the winner going into Sunday’s 9 p.m. championship game on TSN.
The third- and fourth-place teams will play, either Friday or Saturday for a berth in Saturday’s 8 p.m. semifinal on TSN against the loser of the Page one-two game.
(more later)
PEI’s MacPhee rink stole the ninth end, BC took a tying single in the 10th, and PEI scored a point in the extra end to defeat Team Canada by an 8-7 score at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Vancouver this afternoon. BC still leads the pack with an 8-1 win-loss record, while Saskatchewan is 6-3.
Team Canada, Alberta, PEI and Quebec are all tied with 6-4 records. Two round-robin draws remain, with PEI facing first place BC at 5 Atlantic in their last round-robin game.
More in The Guardian
VICTORIA, February 25, 2009 (CCA)— B.C.’s Marla Mallett is playoff-bound at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The surprise team of the Canadian women’s curling championship, Mallett and her Vancouver Curling Club quartet — third Grace MacInnes, second Diane Gushulak and lead Jacalyn Brown improved to 8-1 in Draw 14 on Wednesday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre with a 6-4 triumph over Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon.
That win, combined with a Prince Edward Island loss, secured a spot for B.C. in the Page playoff one-two game, which means two lives in the playoff round.
B.C. opened the game with two in the first, and added stolen singles in the second and third ends and never looked back in handing the Territories their sixth loss in nine games.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton team from Saskatoon continued its remarkable turnaround with an easy victory in Draw 14.
Lawton, third (and younger sister) Marliese Kasner, second Sherri Singler and lead Lana Vey won their sixth straight game, a 10-4 triumph over New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly. Saskatchewan found itself down 3-0 through two ends, but bounced back to score two in the third, and proceeded to steal one in the fourth, two in the fifth and one more in the fifth, and the gloves came off when Saskatchewan scored four in the eighth end.
Saskatchewan got to 6-3 with the win, while New Brunswick dropped to 3-6.
Newfoundland/Labrador’s Heather Strong picked up a fourth straight victory by running up a 9-5 win over Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche, leaving both teams with 5-4 records. The teams were tied 4-4 through six ends before the Strong foursome scored a deuce in the seventh end and added three more in the ninth.
In the other Draw 14 game, Ontario’s Krista McCarville cracked a game-winning deuce in the 10th end to beat P.E.I.’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee 8-7. The result left both teams with 5-4 records and still alive for the playoffs.
Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones (6-3), Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard (5-4), Manitoba’s Barb Spencer (2-7) and Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery (1-8) all had byes in Draw 14.
Round-robin play at the Scotties concludes on Thursday with draws at 12:30 a.m. (all times Atlantic), 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on TSN. The morning draw will also be shown live on TSN.ca As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available from TSN.ca.
P.E.I. plays Team Canada in the 12:30 pm draw. This game will be featured on TSN. They wrap up round robin play against BC at 5 Atlantic.
The top four teams following the conclusion of round-robin play on Thursday night will make the Page playoffs. The first- and second-place teams will play either Friday or Saturday, with the winner going into Sunday’s 9 p.m. championship game on TSN.
The third- and fourth-place teams will play, either Friday or Saturday for a berth in Saturday’s 8 p.m. semifinal on TSN against the loser of the Page one-two game.
The fairplay and coaches awards were handed out following the final games at the Sylvan Learning Provincial 17 and Under Curling Championship, which wrapped up earlier this week at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton.
The fairplay awards for sportsmanship, as voted on by the players, went to skip Parker Clements, of the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, and to Sarah Keen, third for the Megan Davies rink of Charlottetown.
The coaching awards, as voted on by all the coaches, went to Norma Jean Griffin, coach of the Colton Griffin rink from the host Western club, and to Pat Quilty, who coaches the Tricia Sanderson team from Cornwall.
VICTORIA, February 25, 2009 (CCA)— Prince Edward Island’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee stayed in playoff contention with a Wednesday morning victory at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship.
MacPhee’s team from Charlottetown — sister Robyn plays third and throws last rock, second Shelley Muzika and lead Tammi Lowther — scored a pair of three-enders, including a stolen three in the fifth end, in a 9-2 win over Manitoba’s Barb Spencer.
With the Draw 12 win, P.E.I. improved to 5-3, while Manitoba was all but eliminated from the playoff picture with a sixth loss in eight games.
It’s MacPhee’s sixth trip to the Hearts, and her comfort level at the championship has helped this week.
“Once you’ve been here a few times, you know what to expect with the ice, the crowds, the ceremonies. You just have to play one game at a time,” said MacPhee. “We knew it was a great field coming in, there was so much experience with all the teams, and I think it’s showing in the standings now that everyone is fairly even here.”
In other Draw 12 play, Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones snapped a two-game losing streak by hammering Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche 10-3. Canada scored five deuces, including steals in the fourth and seventh ends, to improve to 6-2, tied for first place with 6-1 Marla Mallett of B.C., who had a bye Wednesday morning. Quebec dropped to 5-3 with the loss.
“It was a must-win for us; we knew we had to win that game,” said Jones. “We had a couple of heartbreakers yesterday, and we knew we had to bear down today.”
Also getting back to the win column after a pair of losses on Tuesday was Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard, who made a runback takeout to score four in the first end, setting the tone for an 11-4 triumph over Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick. With the win, Alberta moved to 5-3, tied for third place with P.E.I. and Quebec. New Brunswick’s record fell to 3-5.
In the other morning game, Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon, fresh off her stunning win over Team Canada on Tuesday night, won her second straight game, doubling Nancy McConnery of Nova Scotia 6-3. The Territories got to 3-5 while the Bluenosers lost for the seventh time in eight games.
B.C., Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton (4-3), Newfoundland/Labrador’s Heather Strong (3-4) and Ontario’s Krista McCarville (3-4) all had byes in Draw 12.
Play at the Scotties continues on Wednesday, with draws slated for 5 p.m. (all times Eastern) and 11 p.m. on TSN. As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available from TSN.ca. P.E.I. plays Ontario’s Krista McCarville rink in the later draw.
VICTORIA, February 24, 2009 (CCA)— Chalk one up for the Northwest Territories/Yukon at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Kerry Galusha’s Yellowknife foursome — third Dawn Moses, second Shona Barbour and lead Heather McCagg-Nystrom — pulled off the biggest upset of the week at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, shocking defending Canadian and world champion Jennifer Jones and Team Canada 10-8 in the 11th draw on Tuesday night.
Galusha called it the biggest win of her career.
“By far. I’ve never beaten Team Canada before,” said Galusha. “I don’t think we’ve ever had close games with Team Canada. They’re the best team in the world. I’m friends with all of them and they’re such great curlers and I hope they win this.”
Galusha led 9-8 without last rock in the 10th end, but saw a big Team Canada end building until she made a gorgeous in-off to sit frozen for shot rock in the four-foot, and Jones couldn’t remove it.
“That last end, I was like, crap, they’re totally set up for two; how am I going to get out of this?” said a laughing Galusha.
The Territories improved to 2-5 with the win, while Team Canada dropped to 5-2, tied for second place with Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche and behind leading Marla Mallett of B.C. (6-1), who had a bye in Draw 11.
Quebec capped a two-win day with a 7-5 win over Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery. Quebec opened with a first-end deuce, and took control by scoring three in the fifth end. Nova Scotia dropped to 1-6 with the loss.
New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly, meanwhile, turned her game around by scoring five in the ninth end en route to a 10-7 win over Manitoba’s Barb Spencer. Manitoba had just scored three in the eighth end to take a two-point lead into the ninth end, but a series of missed shots led to New Brunswick’s big score. New Brunswick improved to 3-4, while Manitoba dropped to 2-5.
In the other evening game, P.E.I.’s Robyn MacPhee made an open hit to score two in the 10th end for a 7-6 triumph over Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard. Alberta had stolen one in the ninth end to take the lead, but MacPhee, who throws last rock while her sister Rebecca Jean calls the game, had a terrific double takeout with her first rock of the 10th to set the stage for her game-winner. The result left both teams with 4-3 records.
Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton (4-3), Newfoundland/Labrador’s Heather Strong (3-4) and Ontario’s Krista McCarville (3-4) also had byes in Draw 11.
Play at the Scotties continues on Wednesday, with draws slated for 12:30 p.m. (all times Atlantic), 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., with the morning draw also available on TSN.ca. As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available from TSN.ca.
P.E.I. plays Manitoba in the early draw, and Ontario in the late.
VICTORIA, February 24, 2009 (CCA) — B.C.’s Marla Mallett is putting on a show in front of her home-province fans.
Mallett and her team from the Vancouver Curling Club (third Grace MacInnes, second Diane Gushulak, lead Jacalyn Brown) swept a pair of games on Tuesday at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to take over sole possession of first place at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship.
The latest win was a 7-5 triumph over Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick, a game that was tied going into the 10th before Mallett executed an open hit to score a winning two points.
It was an impressive bounceback day for B.C., which lost its first game of the Scotties on Monday night, to Alberta.
“We basically came out to the ice the same way (as on Monday),” said Mallett. “I mean, you have to learn from the half-shots and fix them, and bring it a little better for the next game. Every game, there’s pressure. You’ve got to bring your best to the ice every time you come out or you’re going to get beat. The field is just too good.”
New Brunswick dropped to 2-4 with the loss.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton won her fourth straight game, a 10-6 triumph over Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon. Saskatchewan, which lost three straight to open the Scotties, opened with a deuce, gave up three in the second, then put up single points in the third and fourth ends and a sixth-end deuce to take control. The Territories suffered its fifth loss in six games.
Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche put together a late comeback to beat Krista McCarville of Ontario 10-8 in an extra end. Larouche tied the game by scoring three in the 10th end, then took advantage of two misses by Ontario earlier in the end to tuck a rock in the four-foot behind two centre guards. McCarville’s attempted double-raise takeout failed to curl enough to give the steal to Quebec.
Quebec improved to 4-2 with the win, while Ontario dropped to 3-4.
In the other Draw 10 game, Newfoundland/Labrador’s Heather Strong capped a perfect two-win Tuesday with a 9-3 thrashing of Rebecca Jean MacPhee of P.E.I. Newfoundland/Labrador put up a big four in the fourth end and never looked back en route to its third win in seven games, while P.E.I. dipped to 3-3 with the loss.
Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones (5-1), Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard (4-2), Manitoba’s Barb Spencer (2-4) and Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery (1-5) all had byes in Draw 10.
Play Tuesday wraps up with a 10:30 p.m. draw (all times Atlantic) on TSN. On Wednesday, draws are slated for 12:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., with the morning draw also available on TSN.ca. As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available from TSN.ca.
The Montague Curling Club is the host for the 2009 M&M Meat Shops Provincial 15 and Under Curling Championships, which get underway Friday morning and finish on Sunday or Monday. Eight boys and nine girls teams are taking part. Defending champions are the Matthew MacLean and Tiffany Sweet teams, both from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary. Sweet has graduated to the 17 and Under event this year, but MacLean is back to defend his title. Both boys and girls divisions wil play a two-pool round robin format, with a three-game championship round. If there are no tiebreakers, the final will be Sunday at six pm; otherwise it will go Monday at 4:30 pm.
Live scoring will be available at peicurling.com/15andunder
Here is the girls round robin draw:
Friday, Feb. 27 at 9 am
Leah Deveau (Montague) vs Amanda MacLean (Maple Leaf)
Heather Drake (Montague) vs Kimberly Dunbar (Charlottetown)
Friday, Feb. 27 at 2 pm
Dunbar vs Deveau
Emma Cousins (Maple Leaf) vs Megan Davies (Ch’town)
Amanda MacLean vs Veronica Smith (Cornwall)
Jenny MacLean (Silver Fox) vs Emily Keen (Charlottetown)
Saturday, Feb. 28 at 9 am
Keen vs Dunbar, Drake vs Deveau
Saturday, Feb. 28 at 2 pm
Deveau vs Keen, Jenny MacLean vs Drake, Smith vs Cousins, Amanda MacLean vs Davies
Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6 pm
Cousins vs Amanda MacLean, Davies vs Smith, Dunbar vs Jenny MacLean, Drake vs Keen
Here is the boys round robin draw:
Friday, Feb. 27, at 11:30 am
Jeff Taylor (Cornwall) vs Matthew MacLean (Maple Leaf), Tyler Smith (Cornwall) vs Alex Matters (CH’town),
Tony Nabuurs (Montague) vs Adam Nabuurs (Montague), Eric Brookins (Silver Fox) vs Shawn Pitre (Western)
Friday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 pm
Adam Nabuurs vs Brookins, Pitre vs Tony Nabuurs, MacLean vs Smith, Matters vs Taylor
Saturday Feb. 28 at 11:30 am
MacLean vs Matters, Taylor vs Smith, Tony Nabuurs vs Brookins, Adam Nabuurs vs Pitre
Team Rosters
Boys (skip to lead, coach-club)
Jeff Taylor, Alex Sutherland, Sean Young, Alex Jenkins, coaches Whitney Young/Trevor Young-Cornwall
Shawn Pitre, Daniel McCarthy, Jeff Duggan, Colton Griffin, coach Roger Gavin-Western
Tony Nabuurs, Taylor McInnis, Jonathan Schut, Chandler Matheson, coach Arny Nabuurs-Montague
Matthew MacLean, Marshall Smallman, Kevin Gallant, Alan MacLean, coaches Glen MacLean/Shannon Smallman-Maple Leaf
Alex Matters, Andrew Cameron, Daniel Dillon, Alex MacFadyen, coaches Billy Dillon/Derrick Cameron-Ch’town
Tyler Smith, Parker O’Connor, Noah O’Connor, Tyson Smith, coach Kevin Smith- Cornwall
Eric Brookins, Neil Gallant, Jordan MacLean, TBA, coach Sheila Compton-Silver Fox
Adam Nabuurs, Bennett Crane, Keith Nabuurs, Darren O’Connor, coach Johnny Nabuurs-Montague
Girls(skip to lead, coach-club)
Leah Deveau, Sarah MacPhee, Jessica Chapman, Carolyn Rose, coach Carolyn MacPhee-Montague
Emma Cousins, Laura O’Meara, Paige Vincent, Julia McInnis, coach Chris O’Meara-Maple Leaf
Jenny MacLean, Meaghan MacDonald, Rachael Gardiner, Lauren MacFadyen, coach Don Vickerson- Silver Fox
Veronica Smith, Katie Fullerton, Sabrina Smith, Chloe McCloskey, coaches Paul Smith/Sarah Fullerton-Cornwall
Megan Davies, Sarah Keen, Rachel Moore, Emma Matheson, coach Ann Doucette-Ch’town
Kimberly Dunbar, Emily Hennessey, Kellie-Lynn Younker, Chelsea Warren, coaches Nancy Dunbar/David Younker-Ch’town
Amanda MacLean, Kassinda Bulger, Emily Gray, Aleya Quilty, coaches Shelley Gray/Glen MacLean-Maple Leaf
Emily Keen, Kailey Koughan, Jessica Watts, Jenny Mutch, coach Margie Jardine-Ch’town
Heather Drake, Amy Purchase, Emma Nabuurs, Shana Morrison, fifth Terri-Anne Groves, coach Johnny Nabuurs-Montague
The M&M Meat Shops Provincial Mixed Curling Championships get underway Thursday evening and wrap up Sunday at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary. Thirteen teams from six PEI curling clubs are taking part. The defending champion Bill Hope rink from Charlottetown are back to defend their title. Also in the running are last year’s runners-up, the Rob Young foursome from Cornwall, along with 2005 champion Larry Dewar of Montague, and 2007 winner Kyle Stevenson, teamed up with Donna Butler, along with Doug MacGregor and Tricia Affleck from his 2007 team.
Two junior-age teams are entered this year, one of which includes Canadian Junior champions Adam Casey and Anson Carmody, along with PEI junior women’s champs Geri-Lynn Ramsay and Erin Carmody. The other junior team is skipped by Nick vanOuwerkerk, and includes Lisa Moerike, Brent Campbell and Darcee Birch. On the Seniors side, reigning PEI Senior Men’s champs Blair Jay and Douglas Simmons are teamed up with four-time Senior women’s champs Barb Currie and Helen MacDonald. Other teams entered include the Jeff Nelson and Donald Clarey rinks from Montague, the Tony Quigley foursome from Crapaud, Leo Stewart and his Silver Fox rink, David Murphy from Charlottetown, and Daryl MacDonald from the host Maple Leaf club.
Teams will play a double-knockout format, with the A division final Saturday at 2, the B final Sunday morning at 9, and the championship game Sunday at 2. In the event that the same team wins both A and B, the championship game will not be required. The winning team will advance to the 2010 Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, which take place November 15-22, 2009 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club in Burlington Ontario.
Live scoring for the PEI championship will we available at peicurling.com/mixed
Here are the opening draws:
Thursday, February 26, 7 pm
Kyle Stevenson (Ch’town) vs Nick van Ouwerkerk (Ch’town)
Larry Dewar (Montague) vs Bill Hope (Ch’town)
Rob Young (Cornwall) vs Jeff Nelson (Montague)
Tony Quigley (Crapaud) vs Davie Murphy (Ch’town)
Friday, February 27, 9 am
Donald Clarey (Montague) vs Adam Casey (Charlottetown)
Leo Stewart (Silver Fox) vs Blair Jay (Silver Fox)
Friday, February 27, 2 pm
Daryl MacDonald (Maple Leaf) vs winner Stevenson/van Ouwerkerk game from Thursday
Here are the team rosters (skip to lead-club):
Larry Dewar, Tammy Dewar, Larry Richards, Gail Greene - Montague
Bill Hope, Sandy Hope, Jeff Gallant, Shelley Ebbett - Charlottetown
Rob Young, Lorianne Davies, Mark MacDonald, Melody Beck, fifth Tracy MacDonald - Cornwall
Jeff Nelson, June Moyaert, Pat Birtwistle, Marjorie Campbell - Montague
Tony Quigley, Vanessa Hamming, Gordon Fall, Diana MacKay - Crapaud Community
Leo Stewart, Kim Aylward, Paul Matheson, Faith LeClair - Silver Fox
Blair Jay, Barb Currie, Douglas Simmons, Helen MacDonald - Silver Fox
Nick VanOuwerkerk, Lisa Moerike, Brent Campbell, Darcee Birch, coach Robbie Roberts – Ch’town
Daryl MacDonald, Rushell MacDonald, Glen Betts, Audrey Thomson - Maple Leaf
Kyle Stevenson, Donna Butler, Doug MacGregor, Tricia Affleck - Charlottetown
David Murphy, Carol Kennedy, Don Sheidow, Kim Flanagan - Charlottetown
Donald Clarey, Kathy Clarey, Mike Clarey, Sherry Kacsmarik - Montague
Adam Casey, Geri-lynn Ramsay, Anson Carmody, Erin Carmody, coach Jeffrey Wilson – Charlottetown
VICTORIA, February 23, 2009 (CCA) — Team Canada finally played a full-length game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship.
But the end result was just the same as their three previous shortened games — another victory for Jennifer Jones and her reigning Canadian and world championship team from Winnipeg.
After playing a total of 21 ends to win their first three games, Jones, third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin were taken to last rock by New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly in Draw 7 Monday afternoon at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. But Jones had it, and she made a hack-weight takeout to score a game-winning deuce and a 5-3 win.
“I’m never nervous on the last one,” said Jones, who moved into a tie for first place at 4-0 with B.C.’s Marla Mallett, who had a bye. “It’s exciting, it’s fun, and you want to make a few of those as the week goes on. Whenever you have a big shot to capitalize, you want to make it, and that was a big shot for us. It felt good.”
New Brunswick dropped to 2-3 with the loss.
In other Draw 7 play, P.E.I.’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee salvaged a split of her Monday assignments with an 8-6 triumph over Atlantic Canada rival Nova Scotia, skipped by Nancy McConnery. P.E.I. stole a crucial three in the sixth end, then added a deuce in the eighth and never looked back en route to picking up its third win in five games. Nova Scotia dropped to 1-3.
Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard, meanwhile, stretched her win streak to three but needed an extra end to defeat Marie-France Larouche of Quebec 8-7. Bernard covered the pin with her last rock of the 11th end to improve to 3-1, while Quebec dropped to 3-2.
Manitoba’s Barb Spencer picked up her first win of the ’09 Scotties, but she had some nervous moments en route to the victory. Manitoba took a 7-2 lead through five ends, but a series of misses allowed Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon to steal her way back in the game — two in the seventh end and singles in the eighth and ninth.
But in the 10th, Spencer made a hit-and-roll to the eighth-foot to score the winning point for an 8-7 triumph. Manitoba improved to 1-3, while the Territories wrapped up their Monday at 1-4.
Play at the Scotties wraps up with one more draw on Monday, at 10:30 p.m. (all times Atlantic) on TSN.
On Tuesday, draws are scheduled for 12:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m Atlantic time. All three will be shown live on TSN, with the morning draw also available on TSN.ca. As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available for viewing at TSN.ca. PEI plays Newfoundland/Labrador and Alberta in two later draws on Tuesday.
The Sarah Fullerton rink from the Cornwall Curling Club, and the Kevin Rice foursome from Montague are the 2009 Sylvan Learning Provincial 17 and Under curling champions. Defending PEI and Atlantic champion Fullerton swept all three sections of the triple-knockout event at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, making a championship round unnecessary, while Rice, who won the A and B sections, only had to win one of the two championship round games, and succeeded the first time, edging defending champion Sam Ramsay from the host Western club by a 5-4 score, stealing singles in the last two ends.
Fullerton beat Summerside’s Anita Casey rink 8-1 in the C final on Monday afternoon, taking two triples and stealing a deuce, after beating Amanda MacLean of O’Leary’s Maple Leaf club 6-2 in the A final, and 9-1 in the B. Other members of the Fullerton rink are Michelle McQuaid, Alexis Wright, and Sara MacRae, with coach Brenda MacMillan.
Rice, with teammates Matthew and Mark Nabuurs,and Keagan Matheson, and coach Arny Nabuurs, beat Ramsay 5-3 in the A final, and Parker Clements of the Maple Leaf club 7-2 in the B. Ramsay beat Clements 8-1 in only four ends in the C final to advance to the championship round.
The Fullerton and Rice rinks will now advance to the Atlantic Under 18 Curling Championships, April 10-13 in Cornerbrook NL.
VICTORIA, February 23, 2009 (CCA) — Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton broke out of her slump at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in record fashion Monday morning at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Saskatchewan, which was 0-3 over the opening weekend of the Canadian women’s curling championship, stole the winning point in the 10th end for a 12-11 triumph over Prince Edward Island’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee.
The 23-point total for the two teams tied the Hearts record for highest combined score, set in 1988 at Fredericton, N.B., when Quebec’s Francine Poisson defeated Jacki Rintoul of Manitoba 14-9 in a round-robin game.
Saskatchewan led 9-6 through five ends, scoring two in the first end, three in the third and four in the fifth. But the Islanders fought back with a deuce in the sixth and three in the eighth.
In the 10th, P.E.I. last-rock thrower Robyn MacPhee couldn’t make her draw to the four-foot, giving the stolen win to Lawton, third Marliese Kasner, second Sherri Singler and lead Lana Vey.
“It was quite the game, that’s for sure,” said Lawton. “After the fifth end, we said that we don’t think we’ve ever had a game where it’s 9-6 after five ends; that’s usually the score after 10. It’s not a normal Saskatchewan game. The good thing is that we’re scoring points. Now we just have to try to keep down their points. But it’s a good win and we’re going to try to use that momentum and carry on. I don’t think we tried to do anything different, but it just ended up working out quite a bit differently.”
P.E.I. dropped to 2-2 with the loss
Meanwhile, B.C.’s Marla Mallett continued her hot early pace, beating Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche 7-6 to improve to 4-0; Quebec dropped to 3-1.
“Another great game,” said Mallett, who racked deuces in the second, fifth and seventh ends en route to victory. “I think you always hope that you’re going to get on a roll like this. Expect? Not really. I mean, you have to come out and bring your ‘A’ game to the ice every time. Our team is playing very well together as a unit. We have four people going out there, and of course there are extra distractions, extra pressure. So to be able to go out and stay together and play together is very important.”
Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon picked up her first win, stealing the winning point in the 11th end when Newfoundland/Labrador skip Heather Strong was wide on a last-rock takeout attempt, giving the Territories a 9-8 win. Galusha forced the extra by drawing the four-foot for a 10th-end deuce.
Also, New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly evened out her record at 2-2 by winning a defensive struggle, 5-3 over Krista McCarville of Ontario. Neither team could muster more than single points, but New Brunswick managed to steal a pair of them — in the fourth and 10th ends — to hand Ontario its second loss in four outings.
Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones (3-0), Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard (2-1), Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery (1-2) and Manitoba’s Barb Spencer (0-3) all had byes in the morning draw.
Play at the Scotties continues on Monday, with draws scheduled for 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Atlantic; all draws will be televised live by TSN.
Draws for the Sylvan Learning Provincial 17 and Under Curling Championship will now go at 4 and 7:30 pm today. Should a final draw be necessary, it will go Tuesday at a time to be announced later.
Due to problems with driving conditions in some parts of PEI, tonight’s general meeting of the PEI Curling Association has been postponed by two weeks, to Monday, March 9th at 7 pm at the Crapaud Community Curling Club.
Due to weather and road conditions, the Sylvan Learning Provincial 17 and Under Curling Championships 10 am draw at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton has been cancelled. Decisions will be made later today on whether a draw will be held at 3 pm or tonight, or whether the final draws in the event will be postponed until Tuesday.
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