McCarville must play tiebreaker

It’s off to a tiebreaker for Krista McCarville.

McCarville flashed on her final stone on Thursday night, handing Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones a 6-5 victory in the final game of round robin play at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.

The loss drops McCarville into a three-way tie for third place at the national women’s curling championship, and a Friday date with Jill Thurston’s Manitoba team for the right to advance to the 3-4 page playoff game against Kelly Scott’s B.C. rink on Saturday.

McCarville, who started the week winning six of her first seven, dropped three of her final four coming home.

Jones, who lost two in one day early in the week, finished in second place, tied with Kathy O’Rourke’s Prince Edward Island rink with an 8-3 record. O’Rourke took top spot because she beat Jones in the round robin.

It was a game that saw McCarville playing catch-up for most of the night. After scoring a point in the opening end, she never saw the lead again.

Jones had a nose hit for three in the second, but had to settle for two, rolling her shooter a little too far. No worries.

McCarville drew to the back of the four-foot in three, stopping her stone just in time to save the single, but Jones stormed back with two in the fourth when McCarville’s takeout failed, leaving her opponent an open draw for two, giving Jones a 4-2 advantage.

The teams blanked the fifth and traded singles in the sixth and seventh, blanking the eighth to put Jones up 5-3 heading into nine.

McCarville fought for a draw for two to tie the score, but after ringing the button with yellow stones, was unable to remove Jones’s shot stone with her final rock.

Friday’s tiebreaker is scheduled for 3 p.m. Manitoba beat Ontario 10-5 on Wednesday.