THUNDER BAY – It’s the end of the line for Team McCarville at the Olympic curing trials in Saskatoon, Sask.
The Northern Ontario team, comprised of lead Sarah Potts, second Ashley Sippala, third Kendra Lilly and skip Krista McCarville, battled their way into Saturday’s semifinal, but was out-gunned by former Olympic champion Jennifer Jones, falling 8-3.
The loss ends their Olympic dreams for 2022, but their run at the once-every-four-year event will certainly boost their confidence heading into the Northern Ontario play-downs, scheduled for Kenora from Jan. 4 to Jan. 9.
Earlier in the day McCarville scrambled her way into the semifinal, knocking off Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson 4-3 in an extra end.
It was a match in which Jones never trailed.
She took a 1-0 lead in the first, and went up 2-1 in the fourth.
McCarville, trailing 4-1, clawed back to within one with a deuce in the sixth, but Jones finished her off with two of her own in the eighth and a steal of two more in the ninth, running her opponent out of rocks in the final end.
The 47-yer-old Jones, the 2014 Olympic champion and a six-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts winner, will take on fellow Manitoban Tracy Fleury in Sunday’s finale.
