Two-way tie for first at Scott

There is a two-way tie for the lead after three draws at the 25th-annual Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts being held at the Fort Frances Curling Club.
Janet McGhee (Uxbridge and District Curling Club) and Nancy Wickham (Sudbury Curling Club) both improved to 3-0 with 10-end wins this morning.
McGhee stole single points in the ninth and 10th ends to hand defending champ Jenn Hanna (Ottawa Curling Club) a 6-5 loss—her first of the playdowns.
Hanna (2-1) had led 5-3 through seven ends.
Wickham kept pace with a 10-7 win this morning over Kathy Brown (Sutton Curling Club) to also sit 3-0. Brown dropped to 0-3.
Meanwhile, Krista Scharf (Fort William Curling Club) improved to 2-1 with an 8-2 win in eight ends this morning over Natalie Beauchamp (Coniston Curling Club).
Scharf was coming off a tough 7-6 loss to Hanna in last night’s draw after opening with an easy 8-0 win over Chrissy Cadorin (Guelph Curling Club) in just five ends in the opening draw yesterday afternoon.
Cadorin dropped a 9-1 decision to Jo-Anne Rizzo (Brant Curling Club) this morning to drop to 1-2. Rizzo, meanwhile, improved to 2-1.
Also this morning, former world champ Marilyn Bodogh (St. Catharines Curling Club) earned her first victory with an 8-1 win over Marlo Dahl (Fort William Curling Club), who remains winless in three tries.
“There were definitely nerves starting off,” Scharf admitted yesterday. “I’ve played years before, but that’s something that never goes away.”
In fact, the Scharf rink has been seeing a sports psychologist recently and said that’s one of the most beneficial things they could do to improve their game.
“We felt mentally prepared and that’s huge for us,” she remarked.
Scharf had the lead after five ends against Hanna last night, but the defending champs stormed back with a four-ender in the sixth.
Hanna finally ran Scharf out of rocks in the 10th for the 7-6 victory.
“We’re so happy to be here,” said Hanna, who had opened with a 11-6 win over Brown yesterday afternoon.
“It’s going to be a tough week because there are so many good teams here,” she added. “Whoever does win will be a good representative at the [national] championship.”
Bodogh had a tough start yesterday, first falling to McGhee 6-5 and then losing to Beauchamp 7-4 last night.
Bodogh, who was battling a cold yesterday, hoped to be feeling better for the rest of the tournament.
“I’m going to home, gargle, get 10 hours of sleep, and life will be better,” she noted last night.
After beating Bodogh, McGhee edged Rizzo 9-8 last night to improve to 2-0. Wickham also won both her games yesterday, topping Beauchamp 11-7 in the first draw and then doubling Dahl 10-5 last night—sealing the win with a three-ender in the eighth.
Dahl had opened with a 8-4 loss to Rizzo yesterday afternoon.
Rizzo said her rink played “okay,” adding they were just trying to figure out some rock issues they were having.
“It was nice to get a win on the first draw,” she remarked. “We’re trying to get use to the ice. It’s an adjustment for the southern teams.”
The tournament continues with two more draws today (at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), with more round-robin action tomorrow and Thursday.
The playoffs go Friday and Saturday, with the final set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The winner will represent Ontario at the Scott Tournament of Hearts on Feb. 25-March 5 in London, Ont.