LITTLE CURRENT, Ont. – Krista McCarville arrived in Little Current with a big target on her back.
The six-time Northern Ontario women’s curling champion won its opener on Thursday night, but needed last-end heroics in their second match of the six-team event to pull out a narrow 7-6 win over Sudbury’s Krysta Burns, their opponent in last year’s provincial final.
McCarville, with hammer, scored two in the 10th to erase a 6-5 deficit and improved to 2-0, tied for top spot with North Bay’s Laura Johnston, the only other team without a loss in the four-day event after an 11-10 nailbiter against Lauren Mann worked out in her favour.
The Thunder Bay rink, which includes Andrea Kelly, Kendra Lilly, Ashley Sippala and Sarah Potts, was in control of the match in its early stages, leading 3-1 after stealing one in the fifth.
Burns, who represented Northern Ontario at the 2021 Scotties Tourmament of Hearts, scored two with hammer in the sixth and stole a single in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. The teams traded deuces in the eighth and ninth, Burns leading 6-5 heading to the 10th.
McCarville and Johnston will go head-to-head on Friday night, while Burns will take on Thunder Bay’s Robyn Despins, who evened her record at 1-1 with a 9-4 win over Sudbury’s Jackie McCormick (0-2).
Despins broke open a 4-4 game with two in the fourth, then stole two more in the eighth and one in the ninth to put it out of reach.
In men’s C-side action, Thunder Bay’s Zach Warkentin eliminated Sudbury’s Ian Deschene needing just nine ends to earn a 10-4 win in a do-or-die match for both teams.
North Bay’s Brad Minogue also stayed alive, taking out Sandy MacEwan 8-2 on Friday afternoon, ending MacEwan’s hopes of a return to the final.
In men’s play on Friday night, Thunder Bay’s Trevor Bonot will take on defending champion Tanner Horgan for an automatic berth in Sunday’s final, the only two team left in the A-side bracket.
