THUNDER BAY – Krista McCarville was all business on Friday morning.
The Thunder Bay skip, coming off a tight win the night before over Sudbury’s Emma Artichuk, made easy work of North Bay’s Laura Johnston, opening with a pair in the first end and closing out the match in the fifth with a remarkable six-ender, earning them a 10-1, their fourth in four outings at the Northern Ontario Women’s Curling Championship at Port Arthur Curling Centre.
“It was a quick turnover, but every single game is such an important game that we’re coming out firing. We want to win badly, so we have to play well,” McCarville said
“There are great teams here.”
Jumping out in front early was the key to setting up the rest of the game, she added
“I think it’s so key to get a two or more in the first end. It just helps with confidence. Learning the ice and all those sorts of things, like draw weight, is so important, and I think we picked up on that really quickly this game.”
The finish was also outstanding, McCarville said.
“It was quite surprising. I was just saying to Andrea (Kelly), ‘She can put it in a lot of spots for us to have hard to get more than two, so we kind of lucked out.”
The four-time defending champions also capitalized on most of Johnston’s mistakes. Johston flashed on her first shot of the opening end, opening the door for McCarville to score her deuce.
In the second she was unable to move a McCarville stone far enough to score one, and wound up giving up a single to her opponent.
In the fifth, facing five McCarville rocks, Johnston hit and rolled out. Then, on her second, she slid through a hole and left McCarville an open draw for six.
It was a good win, said second Ashey Sippala, who joined lead Sarah Potts and third Andrea Kelly on the ice, Sudbury’s Kendra Lilly sitting this one out.
“It was nice that it was quick, but we’re just really trying to focus on playing well. So however long that takes. If it’s a 10-end game, if we’re throwing it the way we want to, then that’s great,” Sippala said.
One sheet over, Thunder Bay’s Robyn Despins continued her impressive playdowns run, scoring a 7-2 win over Claire Dubinsky’s foursome, who call the Kakabeka Falls Curling Club home.
Dubinsky, who started with hammer, traded singles with Despins in the first and second ends, but gave up a steal of three in the fourth and a steal of one in the fifth. Despins added a steal of two in the fifth. Dubinsky got one back in the sixth before the two sides shook hands.
“We’re feeling great,” said Dubinsky, whose team of lead Rebecca Carr, second Samantha Morris and third Nicole Westlund-Stewart is now 3-1, one of three teams sitting at one loss in the seven-team field.
“We’ve got a good handle on the ice and we’re feeling confident every game we go out. Things are coming together good for us.”
McCarville and Despins meet on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
