Hit and stick keeps McCarville undefeated

Krista McCarville hit and stuck her final shot of the match, scoring two points in the 10th end for a 7-6 win over Valerie Sweeting’s Alberta rink in Draw 4 of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

At 2-0, the Thunder Bay foursome is just one of two remaining undefeated teams at the national women’s curling championship, being staged at the Essar Centre in Sault. Ste. Marie. Jennifer Jones, the two-time defending champion, is 3-0 after defeating Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland 7-3 on Sunday afternoon.

Sweeting  (2-1) took an early 1-0 lead with a steal in the first, but McCarville fought back with a pair in the second to go up 2-1.

After blanking the third, Sweeting and McCarville traded deuces in the fourth and fifth, and singles in the sixth and seventh. The Alberta rink, which also includes lead Lindsay Makichuk, second Whitney More and third Megan Einarson, evened the game 5-5 in the eighth and stole one in the sixth to go up 6-5 heading into the final end.

Unfortunately, needing to hit and roll behind cover with her final rock, Sweeting instead hit McCarville’s shot rock dead on, and remained in wide-open territory and left McCarville an easy takeout.

McCarville, lead Kari MacLean, second Ashley Miharija and third Tara George will take on Eve Belisle’s Quebec team (1-1) in Draw 5 on Sunday night.

In other action, Manitoba’s Jill Thurston scored four in the seventh and downed Newfoundland’s Shelley Nicholls 11-6 and B.C.’s Kelly Scott held off a charging Belisle to improve to 2-1 with a 6-4 win.