GRAND PRAIRIE, Alta. -- The comeback queens were at it again on Saturday night.
First Krista McCarville made a clutch double-takeout with her final stone in the 10th end. Then five-time champion Jennifer Jones came up short on a draw to the four-foot that would have forced an extra end, sending the team from Thunder Bay to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final with a 7-5 upset win – its second of the week against arguably the best skip in Canadian women’s curling history.
Asked how she managed to pull off the semifinal win, McCarville was at a loss for words.
“I don’t know, really,” the 33-year-old skip said. “It’s a little bit of a shocker. I thought for sure we were going to be going to an extra end there.
“I just think our team this year has good spirits. We’re never giving up. That’s kind of our motto this year. Never give up. We battled the whole week and we battled those last two games and that’s what our team can do right now.”
Once again Team Northern Ontario rallied from behind to earn victory. In fact, the team trailed at one point or another in 12 of its 13 matches this week, including a pair of four-point deficits against Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia they managed to erase and escaped with a win.
Jones is a different story, however. She rarely crumbles coming home.
Aggressive in the early going, the Winnipeg skip took a 4-1 lead after three ends, but McCarville kept hanging around.
She drew to the button in the fourth for one to cut the Team Canada lead to two, then stole one to make it 4-3 through six when Jones’ draw came up short.
Trailing by two in the eighth, McCarville made her draw to the four-foot to close the gap to one, then stole a pair in the ninth when Jones lost her shooter facing a pair of opposition rocks and Northern Ontario took an improbable 6-5 lead against a team whose four curlers were all named first-team all stars on Friday for their shooting performance throughout the tournament.
McCarville didn't let that fact daunt her down the stetch, despite a less-than-stellar start to the game. Instead it was business as usual.
“I feel like all week, after the fifth-end break, we just kept picking it up, picking it up every game. This afternoon after the fifth-end break we picked it up. After the fifth-end break is where we have our luck," McCarville said.
It’s the first final for McCarville, third Kendra Lilly, second Ashley Sippala and lead Sarah Potts, and the first for a Thunder Bay rink since Heather Houston represented Ontario in 1991. Sippala was with McCarville in 2010, winning Scotties bronze.
The thrill of being at the Scotties hasn't lessened in the ensuing six years.
“I’m just so excited,” McCarville told TSN. “I don’t even have words to explain. I’m just so excited to be here. We have worked so very hard this year. I have never worked so hard in my entire life … It’s so fun to be out here. This is the sport I chose and I’m so happy."
Lilly, who lives in Sudbury, was at an equal loss for words in the post-match media scrum.
"I don't even know what just happened," she said. "That's pretty much been our story. We've struggled in the first few, but in the last few, that's really where we strive and we're really able to put the pressure on and steal.
"We've done that for quite a few games now and it got us to the Scotties final, so it's pretty amazing."
Team McCarville, who curls out of the Fort William Curling Club, knocked off Manitoba's Kerri Einarson earlier in the day in the 3-4 Page Playoff game, stealing a pair in the 10th to advance to the semifinal against Jones, who also has an Olympic gold medal and world championship title under her belt.
Saturday’s final, against Alberta’s Chelsea Carey, is slated for 8:30 p.m. on TSN.
Northern Ontario lost 9-8 to Alberta in round-robin play.
Jones will play Einarson in a battle of Manitoba skips at 3:30 p.m. in the third-place match.
