As any curler can tell you, it doesn’t take a whole lot for an extremely close game to suddenly become relatively lopsided.
A single miss at the wrong time or a perfect shot at the right time can turn things in an instant, and that was exactly the case during the Curl Sask U18 girls provincial final on Saturday afternoon.
Shawna Simpson used a steal of three in the seventh end to take control of the title game against Martensville’s Melissa Remeshylo and would go on to a 7-3 victory at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Simpson, third Lauren Speidel, second Makena Bailey and lead Katelyn Speidel will now advance to the Canadian U18 girls championship in Ottawa in February.
Remeshylo, third Mya Silversides, second Claudia Lacell and lead Leah Beausoleil went into the gold medal game as the favourite, thanks to an undefeated run to that point that included an 8-5 win over Simpson in the Page Playoff 1-2 game.
Simpson rebounded nicely, though, rolling to a 7-3 win over Swift Current’s Grace Wickenheiser in the semifinal.
That set up a barnburner of a championship game.
After exchanging single points the first two ends, Remeshylo put up a deuce in the third to take a 3-1 lead. That would be the last good news for her rink, though, as Simpson picked up one in the fifth and stole another in the sixth to tie things up, setting up the pivotal seventh end.
Facing three with her final shot, Remeshylo couldn’t avoid a guard out front, and the wreck would lead to Simpson taking a 6-3 lead coming home.
The final end wasn’t without it’s drama either, as Remeshylo ended up with a potential triple-takeout for four and the outright victory, but instead went for a slightly easier double and the tie. The shot would come in a bit thin, and Simpson had the steal, the win and the provincial title.
Moose Jaw’s Kaylee Hogeboom, third Aryn Thibault, second Abby Hogeboom and lead Payton Fisher reached the playoff round after going 3-2 in their round robin, but had absolutely no luck against Wickeneiser in the Page 3-4 game.
Wickenheiser picked up deuces in the first and third ends to lead 5-0, stole another in the fifth and after Hogeboom picked up one in the sixth, added two more for an 8-1 win.
Hogeboom qualified for the playoffs after falling 11-5 to North Battleford’s Chloe Semeniuk before winning their next two games 7-5 over Estevan’s Heidi Fradette and 11-3 over Regina’s MacKenzie Bjornson. A 9-3 loss to Simpson made for a must win game in her final round robin outing, and Hogeboom would get the job done in style with a 9-0 win over Saskatoon’s Olivia Fisher.
The Canadian U18 girls championship runs from Feb. 4-10 at the R.A. Centre and Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.
