NEW LISKEARD, Ont. -- It was close, but Krista McCarville is moving on to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the eighth time in her curling career.
The Thunder Bay skip powered her team to a nail-biting 6-5 win over Sudbury up-and-comer Krysta Burns on Sunday in New Liskeard, Ont. to capture her fourth Northern Ontario Scotties crown in five years.
McCarville's team, which includes lead Jen Gates, second Ashley Sippala and third Kendra Lilly, never trailed in the match, though Burns' squad did rally back on three separate occasions to tie the match.
After going down 2-0 in the second, she scored a single with the hammer in the third and stole one more in the fourth to even the match 2-2. The teams traded points in each of the next four ends before Mccarville, who won all seven games she played this week, snagged two in the ninth.
Burns scored one in the 10th, but couldn't get the deuce she needed to force an extra end.
This year's Scotties Tournament of Hearts is scheduled for Feb. 15 to Feb. 23 in Moose Jaw, Sask. A win would assure the team a spot in the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Team Canada. Next year's Scotties will be held in Thunder Bay.
On the men's side, Brad Jacobs capped a perfect tournament, downing Mike Badiuk 7-3 in Sunday afternoon's final and moves on to the Tim Hortons Brier, which kicks off on Feb. 29 in Kingston, Ont.
