LITTLE CURRENT, Ont. – Krista McCarville needed every shot in her arsenal to escape her first match of the day.
Laura Johnston might have paid the price for that.
The six-time Northern Ontario champion skip, coming off a narrow 7-6 win over Sudbury’s Krysta Burns in the afternoon draw, scored five in the second end on Friday night and cruised to a 10-2 win over Johnston, handing her opponent her first lost of the six-team event.
McCarville restored her five-shot lead with a pair in the fourth, then stole one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to make an early night of the match, the two teams deciding to shake hands at that point.
Thunder Bay’s Robyn Despins, on the other hand, lost a heartbreaker to Burns, who scored two in the 10th with the hammer and eked out a 6-5 win to improve to 2-1, tied with Johnston for second place, with two games remaining for each team.
In other women’s play, Jackie McCormick dropped a 9-6 decision to Lauren Mann.
On the men’s side, defending champion Tanner Horgan of Sudbury marched straight into Sunday afternoon’s final, knocking off previously undefeated Trevor Bonot 10-4, scoring three in the eighth to break open a 5-4 contest. He stole two more in nine to ice it.
Bonot, who calls Thunder Bay home, drops to the B-side final and will play fellow Thunder Bay skip Brian Adams Jr. for a spot in Sunday’s semifinal.
Adams Jr. gave up three in the ninth and was forced to an extra end, but got his single and edged Little Current’s Jordan Chandler 7-6.
Chandler drops down into the C-side and a date with North Bay’s Brad Minogue. Thunder Bay’s Zach Warkentin will play Sudbury’s Mike Assad in the other game in that bracket. The winners will play an afternoon game on Sunday, then take on the loser of the Bonot/Adams Jr. match for the other semifinal berth.
