NIPIGON - Krista McCarville is headed back to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
But Thunder Bay's Jenna Enge made her work for it.
After a McCarville miss allowed Enge to score three in the seventh end to take a 6-4 lead in the Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts final, but she couldn’t hang on.
McCarville scored a pair in the 10th end to capture the championship in the 10th, to edge Enge, who curls out of the Port Arthur Curling Club, 8-7.
“It feels amazing,” McCarville said, letting out a small sigh of relief.
“Especially after a battle like we had today. All week we’ve been playing so well and to come out the first five ends and struggle like that – but to rebound and actually play better the second half of the game and to win, there’s so many millions of things going through your brain at the moment, but to come out with a win like that, it feels really good.”
It’s the seventh provincial title for the Thunder Bay skip, who will be joined at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sydney, N.S. by lead Sarah Potts, second Jen Gates and third Kendra Lilly.
McCarville, who called it one of her most memorable matches, has now won four Ontario championships and three Northern Ontario title.
“It was ups and downs. You’re winning, you’re losing, you’re in control, you’re out of control,” McCarville said.
“It was definitely a roller-coaster game. We haven’t had too many of those this year, so it was definitely a battle for us.”
McCarville, who started with hammer, jumped in front 1-0 in the second, but Enge scored a deuce in the third and stole another point in the fourth to take a 3-1 advantage. McCarville got one back in the fifth and stole two of her own in the six to go back in front 4-3.
But a takeout of two of her own stones in the rings in the seventh led to a three-enderfor Enge, setting the stage for McCarville’s late-end heroics, scoring two in both the eighth and 10th ends to pull out the victory.
On the men’s side, Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs captured his fifth straight Northern Ontario crown, edging Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan 7-5, after besting Mike McCarville 7-6 earlier on Sunday in the semifinal.
Jacobs, who heads to the Brier for the 11th time, scored deuces in the second, fourth and sixth ends to defeat Horgan, who went 7-0 in the round robin, in a rematch of last year’s provincial final.
“It feels fantastic. It’s relieving,” Jacobs told Thunder Bay Television. “This is our 10th one. We knew this was a record-tying purple heart, if we were to win it, tying us with Rick Lang. It’s a really special one for us, double-digit purple hearts. It’s our 10th Brier. I’m just really proud of the guys, the way that they played.
“If you look at the scoreboard, it’s a near-perfect scoreboard and the Horgans gave us all we could handle. It went right down to the last end. I’m just happy to get the win.”
