ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – Krista McCarville played without the hammer for the first eight ends.
Turns out, she didn’t need it.
The Thunder Bay skip stole singles in the third and fourth ends, a pair in the fifth and put the 3-4 Page playoff away in the sixth with a theft of three, downing defending champion Chelsea Carey 8-1 on Saturday afternoon to earn a spot in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts semifinal against Ontario’s Rachel Homan.
Team Northern Ontario was nearly flawless in their execution, taking advantage of a Team Canada squad that wasn’t having its best day.
McCarville out-curled Carey 93 per cent to 68 per cent, Northern Ontario out-curling Team Canada 93 per cent to 77 per cent.
The teams blanked the first two ends, McCarville missing a chance to force Carey to a single in the first when third Kendra Lilly sailed through trying to split the rings.
Carey, who only gave up five steals during the round robin, needed a draw for a piece of the button, but couldn’t execute in the third, giving up her first point of the match.
After considering a hit for two in the fourth, the Alberta skip played it safe and tried once again for the draw, but came up short and McCarville doubled her lead to 2-0.
It was more of the same in the fifth, Carey heavy on her draw facing two and the Northern Ontario team hit the break up a comfortable 4-0.
They put the match away in the sixth, forcing Carey to attempt a draw to the button facing three, but once again was deep on her shot and McCarville stole another three to lead 7-0.
Team Canada blanked the seventh, finally giving up the hammer after the eighth, settling for a single, their lone point of the match.
McCarville hit and stuck for one in the ninth, the two teams shaking hands.
Carey will have a shot at bronze against the loser of the McCarville/Homan match.
The winner of the semifinal faces Manitoba in Sunday night’s championship match.
