Kristy McDonald gets top playoff berth at Manitoba Scotties

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This article was published 22/01/2016 (3787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEAUSEJOUR, Man. – It came down to her final shot on Friday night, but Kristy McDonald finally got the top playoff berth wrapped up at the 2016 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

In the 10th end and trailing by one against Michelle Montford in the last draw of the day, McDonald threw a slick double takeout to score three and seal a 6-4 win. With that, the top seed McDonald rose to 6-0 on the week, while fourth seed Montford slipped to 4-2. Given that she earlier beat Shannon Birchard, who is also sitting 5-1 on the week, that means McDonald is headed to the 1-vs-1 page playoff game.

Who will get the other playoff, though – well, that is still very much left to be decided. There is a definite chance of tiebreakers.

Birchard and Montford will face each other in the last round robin draw on Saturday, at 12:15 p.m. If Birchard wins, she will book her ticket to the 2-vs-2 page playoff game. But if she loses, she and Montford will both finish the week 5-2, and play each other in a tiebreaker game. If McDonald happens to lose to Joelle Brown in the same draw? That would put Brown at the 5-2 mark as well, and there would be two tiebreakers.

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Elsewhere in Friday night’s draw, 16-year-old Altona phenom Mackenzie Zacharias captured her first-ever win at a women’s provincials, rolling 10-3 over East St. Paul skip Kim Link.

The Manitoba Scotties continue tomorrow, with the final round robin draws at 8:30 and 12:15. The 1-vs-1 page playoff game is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on Sportsnet One. The championship final is slated for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, and will also be televised. Reigning Canadian champion Jennifer Jones is on tap to provide broadcast commentary for the games.