(by Larry Wood).
Four-time Canadian champion Jennifer Jones of Manitoba was riding a four-game winning streak and a one-game lead atop the Scotties Tournament of Hearts standings on Wednesday night. But the story of the tournament heading into the last two-games-for-each-team today may have been slender Quebecois Marie-France Larouche who also is on a four-win skein as she attempts to match her best-ever Scotties record (10-4) established the last time the tournament was played at the Enmax Centrium in 2004.
Larouche, with her new team of Brenda Nicholls, Amelie Blais and Anne Marie Filtreau of St-Romuald, across the wide St. Lawrence from Quebec City, polished off Saskatchewan’s Michelle Englot (4-5) of Regina 10-6 Wednesday night to finish one game off Jones’s 7-and-2 pace at 6-and-3, tied with Kelly Scott of British Columbia and defending champion Amber Holland of Kronau, Sask., both of whom split their decisions on Day Five of the championship.
Larouche said the turning point in her run to date was a victory over Holland on Tuesday night when she executed a double-kill on last rock and Holland gassed a follow-up draw to lose the verdict.
“We’ve had good preparation and sometimes there’s just one shot and when you make it all the momentum follows,” Larouche said.
Alberta’s Heather Nedohin of Edmonton and Becky Atkinson’s New Brunswick crew headed into the final day with 5-4 records.
Manitoba’s Jones, with Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer and Dawn Askin, remained at the head of the pack with a breezy 8-2 waxing of the Territories Cathy Galusha.
“We’re in a good spot,” said Jones, who is rarely out of a promising promising in this affair. “We control our own destiny. We have to win at least one more tomorrow and hopefully two. We want to end the round robin strong.
In other late-shift encounters, Newfoundland’s Heather Strong picked up a spoiler role and hammered New Brunswick’s Atkinson 8-4 while Heather Smith-Dacey of Nova Scotia won her fourth of the week, 7-6 in an extra end over Kim Dolan’s Charlottetown side from Spud Island.
Kim Dolan (CCA photo by Andrew Klaver)
At 8:30 a.m. local time Thursday morning, Quebec faces rookie Tracy Horgan of Ontario (4-5) while Newfoundland plays Alberta’s Nedohin, Team Canada tackles the Territories, and British Columbia goes against P.E.I., who plays New Brunswick in the afternoon.
Here’s how the final round-robin draws shape up for the playoff contenders (all times local):
Manitoba (7-2): 1:30 p.m. Quebec (6-3); 7:30 p.m. Ontario (4-5).
British Columbia (6-3): 8:30 a.m. P.E.I. (2-7); 7:30 p.m. New Brunswick (5-4).
Team Canada (6-3): 8:30 a.m. Territories (2-7); 7:30 p.m. Saskatchewan (4-5).
Quebec (6-3): 8:30 a.m. Ontario (4-5); 7:30 p.m. Manitoba (7-2).
Alberta (5-4): 8:30 a.m. Newfoundland/Labrador (3-6); 7:30 p.m. Nova Scotia (4-5).
New Brunswick (5-4): 1:30 p.m. P.E.I. (2-7); 7:30 p.m. British Columbia (6-3).