Scharf rink wins Scott crown

Like any good curling match should, the final of the 25th-annual Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts came down to the last rock here Saturday night.
And Krista Scharf delivered to perfection—making a nose hit for two to lead her Fort William Curling Club rink to an exciting 7-6 win over Janet McGhee (Uxbridge and District Curling Club).
The foursome celebrated with a group hug while the large crowd on hand at the Fort Frances Curling Club applauded the new provincial champs.
Scharf’s brother and boyfriend ran onto the ice and yelled out, “You’re awesome,” as they picked her up and spun her around.
“I still can’t imagine me as going to the Scott,” she said afterwards. “I had a great feeling all day.”
The national Scott Tournament of Hearts runs Feb. 25-March 5 in London, Ont.
Scharf’s rink includes third Tara George, second Tiffany Stubbings, lead Lorraine Lang (a former world champ), and fifth Michelle Boland. Their coach is Bruce Melville.
But while they were overwhelmed with feelings of triumph, a disappointed member of the McGhee rink stood on the phone in the corner, trying to catch her breath as she cried and explained how badly she wanted to win.
“We thought things were going our way,” said second Lee Merklinger. “It’s just very hard to take.
To McGhee’s credit, her rink of third Julie Reddick, Merklinger, and lead Lori Eddy battled back from an early 4-0 deficit.
After Scharf took one in the first end with the hammer, the Fort William crew stole three in the second when McGhee’s final draw slid through the house.
McGhee was held to a single in the third end, but then stole singles in both the fourth and fifth ends to trail 4-3 at the break.
Scharf went up 5-3 with one in the sixth, but the momentum suddenly swung in McGhee’s favour when she scored a deuce in the seventh to knot the score.
Then after Scharf was forced to blank the eighth end, McGhee stole one in the ninth to lead 6-5 heading home.
But with the hammer, Scharf played the last end perfectly—leaving herself a nose hit for the victory with her final stone.
And it was a no-doubter all the way down the sheet.
McGhee reached the final after beating former two-time world champ Marilyn Bodogh (St. Catharines Curling Club) 8-5 in the semi-final Saturday afternoon, breaking open a close game with a three-ender in the ninth.
McGhee, who finished in second place after the round-robin at 7-2, was relegated to the semi-final after losing 5-4 to Scharf in the #1 vs. #2 game Friday night.
Bodogh, meanwhile, scored two in the ninth and then stole one in the 10th on Friday afternoon to win the #3 vs. #4 game 9-8 that knocked out defending champ Jenn Hanna (Ottawa Curling Club).
Bodogh, who had beaten Hanna 10-3 in the final draw of the round-robin Thursday afternoon to secure third place, was incredibly impressed with her rink and honoured to have been asked to skip them.
“My team played amazing. They are all going to be world champions one day,” said Bodogh, who, at 50, was the oldest competitor at the Ontario Scott here.