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.