A return trip to the Canadian U21 junior final for St. Albert curler Abby Marks ended in a loss with the defending champions from Alberta.
The 10-3 result in nine ends against Mackenzie Zacharias of Manitoba (11-0) was the 14th game for Marks as skip, third Catherine Clifford, second Paige Papley and lead Jamie Scott at nationals in Langley, B.C.
Alberta finished 9-5 and two of the wins were tiebreakers – 8-0 in six ends against Quebec (6-5) and 10-3 in eight ends against New Brunswick (6-5) – for a berth in Saturday’s semifinal against Taylour Stevens of Nova Scotia (6-5).
In the championship pool, Nova Scotia toppled Alberta 12-3 in eight ends and in the rematch the foursome with the University of Alberta Pandas fell behind 2-0 before a three-ender in three and steal of one in four turned the playoff game around.
Marks settled for one with last shot in nine, Nova Scotia counted the qualifier in 10 and in the extra end Alberta scored the winning point without Marks throwing her final stone.
Marks outcurled Stevens 69-55 percentage-wise as Alberta graded out at 76 per cent compared to 72 per cent for Nova Scotia.
Alberta was forced into the tiebreaker round with Friday’s 8-7 loss to Manitoba in the last draw of the championship round. Manitoba had already punched its ticket into the final and Nova Scotia (7-2) was guaranteed a semifinal berth.
Manitoba posted leads of 4-2 after three ends and 6-3 entering the sixth. In eight, Alberta’s three-ender tied it at seven and after the ninth was blanked, Manitoba counted the winner in 10.
Marks shot 81 per cent and Zacharias was at 90 per cent and for the teams it was 83 per cent for Manitoba and 76 per cent for Alberta.
The TSN turning point in the final was an angle takeout to drive an Alberta rock through a hole as Manitoba scored four in eight to make it 8-3.
Zacharias was 89 per cent delivering the goods and Manitoba 86 per cent while Marks was 69 per cent and Alberta 76 per cent.
Manitoba advances to worlds are next month in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Canada was last year’s silver medallist in Liverpool, N.S., with Marks the third for skip Selena Sturmay, second Kate Goodhelpsen and Papley at lead. A steal of one by Russia in the extra end decided the outcome.
Last year’s nationals saw Alberta run the table at 11-0 in Prince Albert, Sask.
At this year’s 14-team tournament, Alberta was first in pool A at 5-1 for a spot the eight-team championship pool.
Clifford was also the second team all-star third at nationals. The all-star lineups were determined by shooting percentages during the round robin and Clifford was at 83 percent.
The all-star skips were Zacharias at 85 per cent and Kira Burton of Northern Ontario at 78 per cent.
Marks, 20, and the rest of the Pandas slide right back into action at the Canada West championships starting Friday at the Saville Centre for qualification at the Curling Canada/U SPORTS Canadian University Championships, March 11 to 15 at Portage la Prairie, Man.
Alberta Scotties
The St. Albert rink skipped by Krysta Hilker finished one win short of competing in the final of the Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Okotoks.
Sunday’s 7-1 semifinal loss in nine ends to Kelsey Rocque on national television ended the 5-4 run at provincials for Hilker, third Karynn Flory, second Sydney Lewko and lead Heather Steele.
The opening three ends were blanked before Rocque counted three with the hammer, then stole singles in five and six before Hilker got on the scoreboard with one in seven.
Rocque (7-3) went on to lose the final 7-4 in nine ends to Laura Walker (9-0) in a match featuring Saville Centre rink.
Hilker started the eight-team round robin with the 12-5 upset of Casey Scheidegger (2-5) of Lethbridge. A four-ender in six made it 6-3 and a steal of four in nine ended the match.
The team’s round robin record includes losses of 8-4 to Rocque, 9-3 to Walker as a five-ender in seven sealed the deal and 11-7 in an extra end to Nicky Kaufman (3-5) of the Shamrock.
Hilker turned the tables on Kaufman in Saturday's three-four playoff by counting four in the extra end for the 11-7 victory and semifinal berth.
In the provincial qualifier earlier this month at Jasper Place, Hilker lost the B final to Kaufman 8-5 before bouncing back to win the C final 7-1 in eight ends against Emily Clark of Westlock to finish 5-2 overall.
Flory, the 2013 Alberta U21 junior champion, is a St. Albert product, Hilker and Steele hail from Edmonton and Lewko is from Spruce Grove.
