And Moose Jaw product Amber Holland couldn’t be happier with how things turned out.
Holland and her Davidson rink of third Kim Schneider, second Karlee Korchinski and lead Deb Lozinski went undefeated through the 12-team tournament at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre, defeating Regina’s Stasia Wisniewski 4-3 in the final.
That was in spite of a blizzard that blew in on Sunday morning and threatened to shut the whole thing down. Then, on top of it all, the power went out before their semifinal with Skylar Ackerman and further delayed things.
“So we were wondering if we were going to be able to finish it at all,” Holland said with a wry laugh. “But we were able to pull it off… It was a good weekend, we made some shots, missed some shots, but made the right ones at the right time.”
That included the championship final against Wisniewski, third Chantel Martin, second Amanda Kuzyk and lead Sheri Martin. Holland carried a 3-0 lead into the fifth end and had things set up for a double for five and a likely early end to the contest. She’d come in just a bit thin, though, and Wisniewski would steal one.
The Highland foursome weren’t done there — Wisniewski would steal single points the next two ends to tie the game heading into the eighth, where Holland would regain her stride and pick up the single point for the victory.
“They played well, we got off to a good early start and then took our foot off the gas pedal,” Holland said. “They kind of kicked into another gear and we didn’t necessarily stay up to pace. That double for five, if you make that it’s probably game over. But kudos to them, at the end of the score is the score and if you win by five or you win by one it’s still a win.”
One of the most important parts of the weekend was simply getting the games played. With COVID-19 having played havoc with the curling schedule so far, just having a chance to play has sometimes been a struggle.
“Since it’s been such a different season, we haven’t had that many games together, we’re still coming together as a team,” Holland said. “So I don’t think we had any expectations for results, we’re just focussing on it as an opportunity to play more games together as a team and finishing where we were was great.”
An important factor was the allocation of Provincial Team Ranking Points, which go towards qualifying for the provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Holland now leads that ranking, tied with Ashley Howard for first.
The top eight rinks advance directly to the Scotties, with Ackerman — who Holland defeated 9-3 in the semifinal — sitting tied for third and Penny Barker in a four-way tie for eighth.
“Every day, we’re just hoping we have a Scotties to play in,” Holland said. “This year is strange and I’d be pleased just to see a provincial championship to play in and hopefully a national.”
