Scotties helps with junior disappointment

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This article was published 12/01/2018 (3076 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KILLARNEY — Meghan Walter didn’t have much time to get over losing the junior women’s provincial curling final, but she’s glad there were only nine off days between that defeat and the opening draw of the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Then again she didn’t really expect to be playing at the women’s provincials, let alone as the youngest player in the 16-team field.

Walter and her team from the Elmwood club in Winnipeg suffered an excruciating 7-6 loss to Shae Bevan in Altona on New Year’s Eve yet she was ready to hit the ice at the Shamrock Centre.

“I think it gets my mind off of things,” Walter said. “I didn’t take it too hard losing the final but coming here is a good experience being only 15 years old and playing with Lisa (Hale-Menard) is great.”

Filling in for regular third Lesle Cafferty, Walter helped Hale-Menard, second Emilie Rafnson and lead Laurie Macdonell qualify for Killarney at last month’s Parkland regional. But outside of a 10-4 upset win over fourth-seeded Shannon Birchard (3-1) on Wednesday, the Dauphin foursome has struggled through two days at the Scotties.

They suffered a pair of six-end losses on Thursday — 9-2 to fifth-seeded Briane Meilleur (2-2) in the morning and later an 11-3 setback against Kristy Watling (2-2) — and sit at 1-3 with three games left in the Asham Black Group.

“I think we are just missing shots on the wrong inch,” Walter said. “We are super close to making them perfect but it could be weight, it could be the wrong amount of ice but we are coming up that one inch short.”

Hale-Menard’s squad has been particularly susceptible to the big end, having allowed six ends of three or four points, compared to just four deuces.

Walter is trying to learn from it and believes the team can find that winning form again today versus Carberry’s Alyssa Calvert (1-3) and Winnipegger Joelle Brown (3-1), who is tied atop the group with Birchard and Jennifer Jones.

“I’m just learning how to stay positive through everything, even if the game is not going our way,” Walter said. “Other teams can get more lucky than we can but we’ve just got to keep on going how we are.”

The three teams that reached the Scotties through the Westman regional aren’t faring much better as they went a combined 0-5 on Thursday. Cheryl Reed’s late game against Kerri Einarson was still in progress at press time.

After knocking off Meilleur 10-5 in her opener, Calvert lost three straight, including a 9-3 decision against Birchard and an 8-4 defeat at the hands of Jones.

Calvert, third Laryssa Stevenson, second Kylee Calvert and lead Lindsay Baldock gave up key three-enders in both Thursday losses.

“I think it was a little bit of focus,” Baldock said about the losses. “We are still new as a group and we are trying to figure each other’s triggers out, what you can say and what you can’t say to try to lift somebody up when you’re frustrated … sometimes you need that little poke.”

“I think we figured it out in that game (against Jones),” she continued. “Even though we lost it was a much better game as a team and we all felt that way, so hopefully going forward that’ll continue.”

It’s not too often a team with a 4-3 record reaches a tiebreaker at the Scotties but it happened last year in Winnipeg with Birchard and Reed of the Brandon Curling Club played off for a spot in the 2-vs.-2 Page playoff game.

So there’s still a chance for the Carberry squad to reach one despite sitting on three losses.

“I’m hopeful and I know in the stats it’s not likely but we are still going to try to win out,” Baldock said. “I wouldn’t say there’s any easy games. Everybody is tough and it’s a pretty tough pool all around.

“My fingers are crossed but we’ll see.”

Reed and clubmate Tiffany McLean will both be looking for their first victories of the week today after dropping to 0-4with two losses apiece on Thursday.

McLean, third Mallory Black, second Hayley Surovy and lead Cassandra Lesiuk were down 4-3 in the afternoon against Miami’s Jennifer Clark-Rouire (2-2) but gave up a deuce in seven and a steal of two in eight to fall 8-3. McLean then lost 10-3to Barb Spencer (4-0) in the evening.

Reed, third Sam Murata, second Pam Robins and lead Roslyn Taylor surrendered six stolen points in an 8-1 loss in five ends to Darcy Robertson (4-0) in the afternoon.

In 21 ends played thus far, Reed’s team has allowed 13 stolen points, which isn’t going to produce favourable results.

“I guess we just haven’t been able to quite complete the ends the way we want to, some struggles with the ice here and there and sometimes not reading it as well as we could,” Robins said. “We had to change around some rocks once or twice with them maybe not being as matched as you’d like and sometimes it seems like we are not quite getting it altogether through the whole end, and other times everyone executes.”

“It’s challenging when you can’t win,” she added.

Reed will look to get off the schneid this morning when she faces Mackenzie Zacharias (1-3) of Altona, while McLean plays Stonewall’s Rebecca Lamb (1-2).

Lamb’s late game against Darcy Robertson was still in progress at press time.

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