THUNDER BAY – The Krista McCarville foursome made sure to make their last game playing in front of the hometown crowd count.
Team McCarville closed their run at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Tour Challenge with a 5-3 victory over Casey Scheidegger, delighting their vocal supporters with roars and moose calls filling the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre on Friday afternoon.
The win was the first in four games during the week for McCarville, third Kendra Lilly, second Ashley Sippala and lead Sarah Potts, spoiling a chance for the Alberta-based Scheidegger rink to factor into the playoff equation.
“I said when we got off that I just wish this was the starting game,” McCarville said. “I just feel so much better out there and I think the girls feel better. With the ice, we feel better. It was just such a slow start for us. It was a bummer.”
The hosts were given a gift in the first when Scheidegger had a chance to draw for two but threw her rock through the house, settling for the single.
McCarville capitalized with hammer in the next end, converting a hit and stick for a deuce. The lead was doubled after the third end when Scheidegger jammed on double takeout attempt, leading to a McCarville steal of one.
Scheidegger rebounded in the fourth, facing two McCarville rocks with her last, but drew to the four-foot to keep the contest close.
With McCarville having added another single in the fifth, the Thunder Bay skip nailed a double takeout with her last to force Scheidegger to play for a blank.
The two sides traded singles in the seventh and eighth ends, capped with a McCarville hit on the game’s final rock to seal the deal.
“I definitely felt more confident putting the broom down. The three other games, we were playing a lot of taps and really difficult shots. We weren’t really getting the ice and the weight,” McCarville said.
“I feel like (Friday) was just the exact opposite. It seemed so much easier and to find draw weight was so much easier, to find the tapping weight. I don’t know why, everything just seemed that much easier (Friday).”
McCarville, a four-time Ontario provincial champion and two-time Northern Ontario representative at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, enjoyed her first opportunity to play in an event on arena ice in front of her squad’s hometown crowd.
It was an awesome experience for the team, McCarville said, with her, lead Sarah Potts and second Ashley Sippala all hailing from the city. Third Kendra Lilly calls Sudbury home.
“We’ve always played in events, where maybe we’re in Ontario, but we always play where there’s (Rachel) Homan or another team so the crowd is never 100 per cent on your side,” McCarville said. “This week, they were 100 per cent on our side so it’s really neat.”
Rachel Homan’s team capped group play as one of only two women’s teams, along with Tracy Fleury, to run the table with perfect 4-0 records.
Homan and her crew downed former Scotties champ Chelsea Carey 8-3 in six ends, highlighted by putting four on the board in the second and scoring a trio in the sixth to draw handshakes.
“We started strong. Usually we build momentum but the team has been playing strong the whole way through,” Homan said. “I’m really proud of how the team has been playing and we have to keep going the same through playoffs.”
In the other women’s game on the ice during the afternoon draw, Jamie Sinclair downed compatriot Cory Christiansen 5-3 to pick up her first win of the week and deny Christiansen a chance at forcing a tiebreaker.
