Barker and her rink of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski advanced to the A-side final at the 12-team tournament on Thursday night, defeating Sherry Anderson 6-5 in their semifinal contest.
As the score would indicate, it wasn’t an easy win by any means -- Barker picked up points in only three ends but made that offence count with three in the first and two in the fifth to take a 5-2 edge at the time. Anderson battled back with single points in the sixth and seventh before tying things up in the ninth, leading to Barker scoring one in the 10th to earn the win.
Things won’t get any easier in the A-side final at 3 p.m., either. Waiting in the wings is none other than 2019 Scotties national champion Chelsea Carey, who rolled to a 10-4 win over former Moose Jaw competitor Amber Holland in their semifinal.
Holland and her Kronau foursome of third Kim Schneider, second Karlee Korchinski and lead Deb Lozinski got off to a rough start and trailed 7-1 through five ends, with Carey picking up a deuce in the third, stealing three in the fourth and another in the fifth. Another three-ender in the seventh made it 10-2 Carey, and Holland would pick up two of her own in the eighth before shaking hands.
The loss dropped Holland to the B-side quarter-final, where after falling behind 6-1 to Saskatoon’s Krista Ellingson, she’d reel off points in the next four ends before stealing another two in the 10th to take an 8-6 win.
Holland will face another rink with Moose Jaw connections in the B-side semifinal at 7:30 p.m. in Saskatoon’s Ashley Howard, who has Skylar Ackerman at lead for the tournament.
After falling to Mitchell in their opening game Thursday, Howard rebounded with two straight B-side wins, taking a 7-3 victory over Regina’s Michelle Englot and 7-5 win over Anderson in the B quarter-final.
The B-side final is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by the C-side finals at 3 p.m.
The Page Playoff 3-4 and 1-2 games take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the semifinal at 10 a.m. Sunday and championship game at 3 p.m.
Check out curlsask.ca for the latest scores and updates from the tournament.
