Staff
They’re halfway home and halfway to St. Catharines all at once.
The Sudbury-based rink skipped by Tracy Fleury, which includes second Jenna Walsh (née Enge) from Devlin, is riding high with a 3-0 record so far at the 2017 Scotties Northern Ontario provincial women’s curling championship in Nipigon.
On the line is a berth in the Scotties national women’s championship Feb. 18-26 in St. Catharines.
In a critical game last night between the past two Northern Ontario reps at the nationals, 2015 winner Fleury topped defending champ Krista McCarville (Thunder Bay) 10-7.
With the loss, McCarville (2-1) dropped to second place in the four-team, double round-robin event.
Fleury jumped out to a 7-1 lead with deuces in the first and fourth ends, followed by a steal of three in the fifth.
But McCarville bounced back with two in the sixth and a four-ender in the eighth to pull within 8-7.
Fleury stifled the rally with a pair in the ninth before running McCarville out of rocks in the 10th.
Earlier yesterday, Fleury dumped Larissa Mikkelson (Thunder Bay) by a 9-2 count in eight ends.
Meanwhile, Fort Frances native Hailey Beaudry, skipping a team based out of Thunder Bay that also includes lead Erin Tomalty from Nestor Falls, sits in third place at 1-2 after a thrilling 8-7 comeback win last night over Mikkelson (0-3).
With the score tied 4-4 after six ends, Mikkelson snared two in the seventh and stole one in the eighth to grab a 7-4 lead.
But the former Muskie alumni, along with Thunder Bay’s Kendra Lemieux at third and Emily Cooney at second, didn’t back down.
After grabbing two in ninth to trail by one heading home without the hammer, Beaudry stole a pair in the 10th to escape with the victory.
In her first game yesterday, Beaudry scored three in the first end against McCarville.
But that only served to upset McCarville, who responded with four in the second.
She then stole singles over the next three ends before nabbing three more in the sixth to cap a 10-3 triumph.
The second time through the round-robin began earlier today with Fleury and Beaudry meeting in one matchup while McCarville and Mikkelson faced off in the other (scores unavailable at press time).
Tonight’s draw will see Fleury play Mikkelson and Beaudry versus McCarville.
Play ends tomorrow with what likely will be the championship-deciding encounter between Fleury and McCarville while Beaudry finishes against Mikkelson.
If Fleury and McCarville win both their games today, and McCarville wins tomorrow’s game with Fleury, the two will play again in a tie-breaker later tomorrow for the right to advance.
