(by Larry Wood). While a flu bug appears to be causing havoc at the Scotties Tournament Of Hearts at the Red Deer Centrium, teams from Saskatchewan and Manitoba managed their fourth wins Tuesday morning to match those of the leaders, Team Canada and British Columbia.
Four-time champion Jennifer Jones rebounded from a Monday night setback to defending champion Amber Holland and completely dominated Heather Smith-Dacey’s Nova Scotia crew.
Rebecca Jean MacDonald and Kim Dolan at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. (Photo by: Andrew Klaver)
The Bluenosers were never in it after settling for a first-end single. Smith-Dacey was forced to double her way out of trouble in the second and third ends but Jones and Co., finally broke through with three in the fourth and refused to take their fingers off the pressure button thereafter in an eventual 8-3 runaway.
“I thought it was a really well-played game early,” said Jones. “We just kept patient and we broke the three and never looked back.
“The key is you always have to bounce back after a loss. We played well, especially with the evening-morning schedule where you get a nap instead of a sleep.”
Michelle Englot’s Green Machine from Regina followed a similar path, breaking a pattern of exchanging points with three in sixth end and four in the eighth against Rebecca Atkinson of Oromocto, N.B. It ended 11-6.
Newfoundland’s Heather Strong (2-4) doubled up on Kim Dolan (2-4) of Prince Edward Islander 8-4 while Marie-France Larouche (3-3) of Quebec stole two in the ninth which proved the difference in a 7-5 conquest of the Territories three-player outfit (2-4) skipped by regular third Sharon Cormier.