Playoff-bound

Marion Clark said she wanted to avoid a tiebreaker at all costs.

A fast start Friday in her round-robin finale took care of that scenario, Northern Ontario’s 10-4 win over Yukon’s Ellen Johnson rink assuring the Thunder Bay a return trip Saturday to the women’s semfinal at the Canadian Masters Curling Championship being contested this week at Port Arthur Curling Club.

Clark, whose foursome took home the bronze in 2012, will take on Alberta at 2 p.m. for the right to play for the championship on Sunday after finishing second in Pool B. Alberta topped Pool A with an identical 6-2 mark. 

Friday’s match was over almost before it began.

Clark scored three with the hammer in the first then stole five more in the second to put it away in a hurry.

“It just gives you the confidence to keep going, when you make some good shots at the beginning,” Clark said of her team’s 8-0 second-end lead.

“I think that’s the key. If you can do that right at the beginning and go forward, it really helps a lot.”

Though she didn’t have to win to advance, Clark said she preferred having destiny in her own hands, knowing a win meant another trip to the playoffs.

“I guess I thought it really was a must-win, because I didn’t want a tiebreaker. So it’s easier to come and do this one than do a tiebreaker. Because I think if we had a tiebreaker, it would be Quebec and they’re pretty sneaky,” she said.

“So I was pretty happy about this win.”

While she’s not sure they’re playing as well this week as they did finishing third a year ago, Clark used the term resilient to describe her team, which includes  lead Bev Junnila, second Tannis Ferguson and third Barbara Ward.

“Hopefully now we’re just kind of peaking and we’ll be OK,” she said.

Clark isn’t sure what to expect against Alberta.

However, the two sides have yet to meet this week and are unfamiliar with each other’s style of play.

“They are new this year, so I don’t even know them. I look forward to it. I think it will be fun. And if we play as well as we just played, we’ll certainly be right in there at the end.”

Saskatchewan will take on Ontario in the other semifinal.

Clark’s Northern Ontario counterparts on the men’s side of the draw face a must-win game Friday afternoon.

Paul Carr kept his tiebreaker hopes alive in the morning draw, doubling Nova Scotia 8-4 to up their record to 3-4. They face another must-win game against Yukon (0-7), but also need help.

Both Manitoba and Nova Scotia sit at 4-3 and a least one must lose, combined with a Northern Ontario win, to force a tiebreaker.