Canada reaches Scotties title game with 12-8 victory over Quebec

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This article was published 28/02/2009 (6374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VICTORIA, B.C. – There were no last-rock heroics for Jennifer Jones on Saturday night – just a good old-fashioned slugfest that put the Winnipeg skip one win away from an improbable repeat at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Jones’s rink overcame an early implosion with a number of key shots in the second half of a 12-8 victory over Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche, propelling the defending champions into Sunday’s final (TSN, 8 p.m. ET) against B.C.’s Marla Mallett.

Jones took a similar path to last year’s final, winning seven straight games following a 3-4 start and finishing things off with a dramatic 6-4 win over Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink in the championship game.

The streak isn’t quite as long in 2009 – Jones has won four in a row – but the games have been even more thrilling.

After a draw to the eight-foot to beat Mallett in the round-robin finale, Jones downed P.E.I. in Friday’s tiebreaker when Robyn MacPhee’s final stone twirled less than a centimetre too far. Earlier Saturday, Jones upended Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton on a 10th-end draw that narrowly edged out two opposing stones.

Jones admitted there was something about playoff action that brought out the best in her foursome.

"I feel like we’ve stepped it up in the playoffs, which is nice," said Jones. "This is the best we’ve played as a team all week.

"We love it. We love playing in these big games We’re not scared of them, and we just love being out there together and enjoying the moment."

Jones isn’t expecting a high-scoring game against Mallett, who played an ultra-conservative style en route to allowing the fewest points in the round robin.

"I doubt it," Jones said. "We’ll try to mix it up … I think that’s the way curling should be played. But everybody’s different."

Jones, third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin settled down following a rocky start against Larouche, scoring multiple points with the hammer three straight times to fend off a plucky Quebec team.

"I really didn’t play well," said an emotional Larouche, who fell 10-3 to Jones in the round robin. "That’s why I’m so disappointed."

The first half was a comedy of errors, with both teams surrendering big steals.

Trailing 1-0 in the second end and facing three Canada stones, Larouche played a shot into the four-foot that Jones easily picked out to lie four. Larouche came up shot with her final draw, and Canada’s lead grew to 5-0.

Armed with her biggest lead since Draw 12, Jones gave it all back over the next two ends.

Larouche scored two with the hammer in the third, and played into the rings with her final shot of the fourth end to sit two. Attempting a come-around with last rock, Jones was well off, and actually bumped a Quebec stone into the rings to give Larouche a steal of three.

The comeback surprised even Larouche.

"Honestly, no," Larouche said when asked if she thought her team could rally. "I didn’t think we would be able to come back. But it happened, so that was great for us."

The teams traded two-pointers over the next three ends before Larouche stumbled, sending her tapback attempt with her final shot just a few inches too far. She settled for the single point, and Canada led 9-8.

Jones put the game away in the ninth end. After Larouche rubbed on a guard with her final stone. Jones was left with a draw to the eight-foot for three points, and Canada ran Quebec out of rocks in the 10th.

Earlier Saturday, Canada and Saskatchewan played a thrilling 3-versus-4 Page playoff game, extending Jones’s streak of nail-biting victories at this event.

Leading 7-6 in the 10th end, Jones rammed into a Saskatchewan guard with her first shot, driving it into another Saskatchewan stone. The guard spun slightly and stopped directly in front of a Canadian stone, leaving Lawton lying one.

The Saskatchewan skip coolly played her final shot into the four-foot, leaving Jones a difficult draw for a piece of the button. The shot appeared heavy at first, but came to rest less than an inch closer than both Saskatchewan stones.

It was an emotional week for Lawton, third Marliese Kasner, second Sherri Singler and lead Lana Vey, who opened with three consecutive losses and were in danger of falling out of the playoff race by the middle of the week. Undaunted, Saskatchewan outgunned P.E.I. 12-11 in Draw 6 for its first win, and reeled off five more victories in a row to secure third place in the round robin.

Lawton and Kasner, who are sisters, also had to deal with circumstances away from the ice. Their mother, Linda Miller, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour late last year, and was unable to make the trip to Victoria. Their father, Bob, who also serves as the team’s coach, stayed behind to be with his wife.

Despite the heart-wrenching playoff loss, Lawton considered the week a success.

"We had a great week," Lawton said while fighting back tears. "I’m very proud of the girls, we played hard and we played with everything that we have."