SCOTTIES: Watling beats Jones in semifinal
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/12/2021 (1399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
CARBERRY – Kristy Watling has reached the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts final for the first time in her career.
Watling’s rink from the Assiniboine Memorial in Winnipeg, which includes Hailey Ryan at third, Emilie Rafnson at second and Sarah Pyke at lead, defeated clubmate Kaitlyn Jones by a score of 8-6 in the semifinal Sunday morning at the Carberry Plains Community Centre.
They will now go up against Alton’s Mackenzie Zacharias at 4 p.m. today for the chance to represent Manitoba at the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont.
“We’re feeling great,” Watling said.
“We just wanted to come out this morning and have a really good game. Luckily for us, they missed a couple of key shots and we were able to come out with the win.”
The final, which will feature two skips looking for their first women’s provincial titles, is a rematch from the opening game of the championship round on Friday.
That matchup lasted only five ends as Zacharias cruised to a 10-2 triumph.
“We didn’t dig too far into that one,” Watling said. “We had a quick discussion after the game and we swept that under the rug.
“If we were to have a bad game, it might as well have been then. We got that out of the way and we’re looking to have our best game in the final.”
Watling was able to build up a 4-1 advantage after four ends in the semifinal, thanks in large part to a steal of two points in the third and another steal in the fourth frame, where Jones had a chance to score a mittful of points but crashed on a guard.
Jones bounced back to tie things up at four in the fifth end, however, as she took advantage of a misplayed hit attempt by Watling to make a nifty takeout for three.
After getting a deuce in a sixth end where she could have scored five, Watling extended her lead to 8-4 in the seventh when she stole another two points when Jones’ takeout attempt wrecked on a guard.
Jones would draw for a single point in the eighth and stole a point in the ninth end, but was unable to complete the comeback.
“We had a lot of opportunities but we weren’t able to capitalize on them,” Jones said.
“I know I personally didn’t play that great but my teammates played really well and I have nothing but great things to say about them.”
Despite the disappointing loss to end the week, Jones is excited for the future of the rink, which includes third Abby Ackland, second Robyn Njegovan and lead Sara Oliver.
“We made the change in our lineup (with Jones throwing fourth stones and Ackland calling the game) late in the season and now we have more of a footing under ourselves from this event,” Jones said.
“To finish third at the provincials in our first time here is something that we can be really proud of.”
> lpunkari@brandonsun.com
> Twitter: @lpunkari