Day 5 - Jan 14/17 - 2018 Scotties Finals
The final of the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts was a showcase of the two hottest teams at the end of the weekend.
Danielle Inglis from the Dixie Curling Club and Hollie Duncan from the Royal Canadian Curling Club came into the game both having won five straight games. Inglis came in undefeated while Duncan dropped her first two games before going on a roll.
And it was the Duncan rink that extended their win streak with a 10-7 victory to advance as Ontario's representative at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Penticton, BC later this month.
The momentum swung back and forth througout the game with Duncan taking it early, Inglis gaining control in the middle ends before the Duncan rink turned things back in their favour with a big shot in the seventh.
Duncan, who came into the event as the ninth-seed team in the 12-team field, took an early 4-1 lead with a deuce in the second end, followed by a steal of two in the third.
But Inglis responded with her first deuce in the fourth and followed that up with a steal of two of her own in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead.
Momentum now appeared in favour of the seventh-seeded rink from the Dixie Club as the Duncan rink seemed to be in trouble.
However, one shot changed all that in the seventh end. Duncan third Stephanie Ledrew made a double takeout to change the end around, resulting in her skip making a successful hit for four and an 8-5 lead.
When Duncan stole another point after a failed double takeout attempt by Inglis, the result seemed all but assured for the Duncan foursome. But Inglis closed the gap with a deuce in the ninth end before Duncan drew the four-foor with her last rock of the 10th to wrap up the victory.
In the semifinal, Duncan opened up an 8-2 lead at the fifth-end break and never looked back, registering a convincing 11-5 win over Cathy Auld and her foursome from the Listowel Curling Club.
It was Duncan's fifth straight win after advancing through the C event.
The Auld rink didn't appear to be on their game from the early going and the Duncan rink capitalized on their opportunities to cruise to an easy victory.
Day 4 - Jan 13/18 - Page Playoff 3 vs 4
It's not how you start but how you finish. Just ask Hollie Duncan.
The skip from the Royal Canadian Curling Club made a pressure-packed in-off tap in the 10th end for a 5-4 win over Heather Heggestad in the 3vs4 Page Playoff Game on Saturday night.
Duncan lost her first two games of the event but has since rolled off four straight wins and now faces Cathy Auld in Sunday morning's semifinal game with Danielle Inglis waiting in the final.
Duncan stole one in the fourth end and another in the eighth in the tightly-fought matchup.
Heggestad scored the only deuce of the game in the ninth end to tie the game at 4-4.
Next Up
Semifinal Game - Auld vs. Duncan (Winner advances to Sunday's final vs. Inglis)
Day 4 - Jan 13/18 - Page Playoff 1 vs 2
Heading into Sunday's final at the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Danielle Inglis has yet to taste defeat.
Inglis and her foursome from the Dixie Curling Club won their fifth straight game on Saturday, an 8-5 decision over Cathy Auld and her foursome from the Listowel Curling Club in the 1vs2 Page Playoff Game.
Auld, who now has a record of 5-2 on the week, will face the winner of Saturday night's 3vs4 Page Playoff Game between Heather Heggestad and Hollie Duncan.
Inglis didn't score her first deuce of the game until the fifth end, drawing in take to a 4-3 lead into the break.
Then, Inglis caught a break in the sixth when Auld made one of her few mistakes of the afternoon. She was heavy on a draw against a split house of Inglis rocks and gave up a steal of two.
Auld managed to close the gap with a draw for two in the eighth end but when Inglis executed the double takeout for another deuce in nine to regain a thee-point advantage, all that was left was to run the Auld rink out of rocks.
Next Up
3vs4 Page Playoff Game - Heggestad vs. Duncan (Winner advances to Sunday's semifinal vs. Auld)
Day 4 - Jan 13/18 - Draw 8
Two playoff positions were up for grabs on Saturday morning as Allison Flaxey took on Heather Heggestad and Jacqueline Harrison faced Hollie Duncan in the C event.
In the feature game, Flaxey's draw in the extra end was heavy and Heggestad didn't need to throw her last shot to get a 7-6 victory.
In the other C event game, Duncan made a tap-back to score two with her last rock in the 10th end to come away with a 6-5 win over Harrison.
Heggestad and Duncan now advance to the 3vs4 Page Playoff Game on Saturday night.
Just one day ago, Flaxey was in the A Final and appeared to be one of the teams to beat. Then 24 hours and three losses later, her rink has been eliminated.
Flaxey had a chance to score three in the second end but her tap was light and inside and she settled for the single.
The following end, Heggestad took full advantage of her opportunity to score big, drawing for three and a 4-1 lead.
In the sixth end, Flaxey had another chance to put a big number up but her runback attempt jammed and she gave up a steal of one.
With the score 5-2 in the eighth end, Heggestad gave up a steal of two and her lead was down to one.
Flaxey then forced Heggestad to draw for one in the ninth and give up last rock. With the game on the line in the 10th, Flaxey made a delicate tap-back to score two and tie the game up at 6-6.
But the comeback came up short in the extra end.
Next Up
1vs2 Page Playoff Game - Inglis vs. Auld (Winner advances to Sunday's final)
Day 3 - Jan 12/18 - Draw 7
Sometimes it just comes down to risk/reward. Such was the case for Cathy Auld in her B final game against Allison Flaxey on Friday night.
Auld called a timeout in the seventh end to discuss two options: draw for two to take a 5-4 lead or play a soft hit for a potential of four but the possibility of a single. She went with the risk and was rewarded for her aggressive call.
With a playoff spot on the line, the rink from the Listowel Curling Club came away with a 9-4 win over Flaxey to punch her ticket to the 1vs2 Page Playoff Game where she will face Team Inglis on Saturday afternoon. The foursome from the Granite Curling Club in Toronto, who have now lost two games in a row, will play Team Heggestad in the C event on Saturday morning.
With the score 1-0 in the third end in favour of Auld, Flaxey made a successful raise to score two and take her first lead of the game.
Then the skip followed that up with two runbacks to lie three, forcing Auld to draw for the single and tie the game at 2-2 through four ends.
After Flaxey drew for a deuce in the sixth to retake the lead, Auld came up with the shot of the game to score four.
The following end, Flaxey came up light on the draw against two and the game was over.
In other games from Draw 7
C - Duncan vs. Tippin - Duncan broke open a tight game with three in the ninth end for an 8-4 win over Tippin.
C - Heggestad vs. Cadorin - Heggestad stole two in the eighth end and one more in the ninth for a 5-2 win over Cadorin.
Next Up
C - Flaxey vs. Heggestad
C - Duncan vs. Harrison
Day 3 - Jan 12/18 - Draw 6
Cathy Auld and her rink from the Listowel Curling Club cruised to a 9-3 victory over Jacqueline Harrison and her foursome from the Mississauga Golf and Country Club in Draw 6 on Friday afternoon.
With the win, Auld advances to tonight's B Final against Team Flaxey with a playoff spot on the line while Harrison drops to two losses and moves into the C event.
Every time Harrison got in the hack, it seemed like she was looking at a house full of opposition rocks. Most times she managed to get her rink out of trouble but not always. And the second and seventh ends end proved costly.
Facing three with her last rock in the second, Harrison rolled out on her hit attempt and surrendered a big steal of three and an early 4-0 deficit.
The following frame, Harrison managed to draw to a pocket of Auld rocks by the button for her first deuce.
With the score 5-3 in the sixth, Auld continued to apply the pressure and was rewarded with a deuce and a 7-3 lead.
When Harrison's draw for one in the seventh was wide, the resulting steal of two led the Mississauga rink to shake hands.
In other games from Draw 6
B - Flaxey vs. Tippin -- Flaxey scored two in the seventh and three more in the ninth for a 10-4 win over Tippin.
C - Waslykiw vs. Cadorin -- Cadorin scored five in the seventh end en route to a 9-4 win over Wasylkiw.
C - Marshall vs. Heggestad -- Heggestad stole one in an extra end to eliminate Marshall with a 7-6 win.
Next Up
B Final - Auld vs. Flaxey
C - Duncan vs. Tippin
C - Middaugh vs. Harrison
C - Cadorin vs. Heggestad
Day 3 - Jan 12/18 - Draw 5
The A Final features the two remaining undefeated teams and usually makes for a game with lots of great shot-making. Today's game between Danielle Inglis and Allison Flaxey was Exhibit A.
Inglis and her rink from the Dixie Curling Club advanced to Saturday's 1vs2 Page Playoff Game with a 6-3 win over Flaxey and her foursome from the Granite Curling Club in Draw 5 on Friday. They are also just two wins away from representing Ontario at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Penticton, BC later this month.
Flaxey faces Julie Tippin in the B event in Draw 6.
In a battle of two teams at the top of their games, there were lots of rocks in play and the end result was one of the best games to watch all week.
With the score 1-0 in favour of Flaxey in the third end, Inglis made a difficult takeout and stuck around for the first deuce of the game.
The fifth end saw one of the best shots of the game as Flaxey made a great cross-house double with her last shot to avoid giving up a deuce.
After Flaxey's draw was heavy in the sixth end, Inglis came through with her own draw to the four-foot for her second deuce and a 4-2 lead.
Flaxey had a chance to tie the game in the eighth but her double to score two jammed on a rock in the 12-foot, leaving her with the single.
Inglis then had a double to score multiple points but she jammed and had to settle for one and a 5-3 lead coming home without last rock.
The team from the Dixie Club then went into protect mode and guarded their rock in the four-foot, resulting in a steal of one and the win.
In other games from Draw 5
B - Middaugh vs. Tippin - Tippin made a hit-and-stick for two with her last shot in the 10th for a 6-5 win.
B - Harrison vs. Cadorin - Cadorin's draw for two in the 10th came up light, giving Harrison a 7-6 win.
B - Heggestad vs. Auld - Auld scored three in the 10th end for an 11-9 come-from-behind victory.
Next Up
B - Harrison vs. Auld
B - Flaxey vs. Tippin
C - Wasylkiw vs. Cadorin
C - Marshall vs. Heggestad
Day 2 - January 11/18 - Draw 4
Allison Flaxey and her foursome from the Granite Curling Club in Toronto have punched their ticket to Friday's A Final after a convincing 9-2 win over Heather Heggestad and her rink from the Oakville Curling Club in Draw 4 on Thursday.
They will face Team Inglis, who came out on top of an 8-6 decision over Team Harrison in the other A semifinal game on Thursday night. The winner of the A Final earns the top seed and advances directly to Saturday's 1vs2 Page Playoff Game.
Flaxey stole her way to victory, opening up a 4-0 lead at the break with the help of three steals. It seemed only fitting that a steal of two in the eighth end led to handshakes.
With last rock in the opening end, Flaxey failed to roll out on her blank attempt and had to settle for the single.
Then in the second, with one buried in the eight-foot, Heggestad was wide on her draw and gave up a steal the first steal of one.
After a blank end, Flaxey protected shot rock for almost the entire fourth and was rewarded with another steal of one and a 3-0 lead.
It almost deja vu in the fifth as Heggestad made multiple attempts to take out shot rock before giving up another steal to trail 4-0 at the break.
There was a recurring theme that would play out one more time before the end of the night.
The Heggestad rink came out of the break making more shots and had an opportunity to score three and close the gap. Already lying one, the skip attempted a split but the hit was thick and they had to settle for a deuce to cut the lead in half.
Flaxey went back on the offensive in the seventh end, making Heggestad chase the game again and resulting in a draw for three and a commanding 7-2 lead.
When Heggestad was wide on her attempt at a doule takeout to score two in the eighth, giving up another steal of two, the decision was made to call it a game at 9-2.
Heggestad moves into the B event to take on Cathy Auld on Friday.
In other games from Draw 4
Harrison vs. Inglis -- Inglis made a pressure-packed draw to the four-foot with her last shot in the 10th to edge Harrison, 8-6.
Duncan vs. Armstrong -- It was an early exit for Armstrong as they lost their third straight game, a 9-6 decision to Duncan.
Next Up
