There will be a new champion at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as the playoff picture finally became clear Friday night with the completion of the championship round.

Chelsea Carey leads the four-team pack that advanced to SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 Page Playoffs. SheB次元官网网址檒l have hammer in the 1-2 game against SaskatchewanB次元官网网址檚 Robyn Silvernagle, who took the second seed after a 6-3 win over OntarioB次元官网网址檚 Rachel Homan.

Homan will have hammer in the 3-4 game against Northern OntarioB次元官网网址檚 Krista McCarville, who edged Prince Edward IslandB次元官网网址檚 Suzanne Birt 7-6.

Carey, who bounced back nicely after a two-loss day Thursday, finished at 9-2.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e felt all week like weB次元官网网址檝e had it dialled in,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭oday was back to normal and thatB次元官网网址檚 all you can ask for.B次元官网网址�

The other playoff teams were 8-3. Silvernagle took the second seed with the best head-to-head record among the three rinks.

B次元官网网址淎 lot of hard work and dedication, no sleep, and blood, sweat and tears went into it,B次元官网网址� Silvernagle said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e put in a ton of work this year. So there was no reason why we couldnB次元官网网址檛 believe that we could be in the 1-2 game.B次元官网网址�

Team Wild CardB次元官网网址檚 Casey Scheidegger (7-4) had a chance to force a tiebreaker, but she dropped a 9-8 decision to Carey in an extra end.

Also missing the cut was Team CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Jennifer Jones (6-5), who did not reach the playoffs for the first time in 14 trips to the national championship.

Jones stunningly came up short on a draw to the 12-foot ring that would have forced an extra end in her 8-6 afternoon loss to McCarville. The Winnipeg skip said the rock felt good out of her hand, but she knew it was going to find the slide path.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about an eight- to 10-foot difference than the middle,B次元官网网址� Jones said. B次元官网网址淪o if you get to the slide path, it does what it did. If I was out wider, thatB次元官网网址檚 probably T-line.B次元官网网址�

The crowd gasped when the stone stopped about a foot short of the rings, despite a furious sweeping effort from JonesB次元官网网址檚 teammates.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e had some worse losses than this for sure,B次元官网网址� Jones said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e played in I donB次元官网网址檛 know how many Scotties and had a good run, had some fun, made some big shots and at the end of the day, it wasnB次元官网网址檛 our week.

B次元官网网址淏ut IB次元官网网址檓 OK with it. Losing a final is way worse.B次元官网网址�

Jones B次元官网网址� a six-time champion B次元官网网址� later defeated British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 Sarah Wark 5-4 in a game without playoff ramifications.

The victory gave Jones the all-time record of 141 career Scotties wins as a skip, one more than Colleen Jones.

B次元官网网址淥bviously a hugely disappointing week,B次元官网网址� Jones said, her voice cracking at times. B次元官网网址淏ut it feels pretty good to have that record with all these amazing players out there.B次元官网网址�

Sarah Wark an unexpected qualifier

Sarah WarkB次元官网网址檚 curling team from B.C. isnB次元官网网址檛 used to cross-country travel, arena ice, top-flight competition or the national spotlight.

You wouldnB次元官网网址檛 know it by WarkB次元官网网址檚 debut performance at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

She has embraced the big stage this week and unexpectedly made the championship round to boot.

B次元官网网址淚 love it, itB次元官网网址檚 nice to go in feeling the crowd, the emotions, being on camera and everything like that,B次元官网网址� Wark said. B次元官网网址淚t drives me a little bit and it just brings out a nice level of competence that I donB次元官网网址檛 always have.B次元官网网址�

Wark opened the competition with three straight wins before losing one-point games to Alberta and Northern Ontario. Her only other defeat in the preliminary round was an 8-6 decision against Ontario.

Pretty impressive stuff from the 24th-ranked team in the country.

B次元官网网址淚 think it says a lot about the fight we have in us,B次元官网网址� Wark said.

Wark got a chance to play some higher-ranked teams at the Red Deer Curling Classic last fall and she won bonspiels in Abbotsford and Kamloops before taking the B.C. title.

She has played with lead Jen Rusnell the last three years while third Kristen Pilote and Carley Sandwith came on board this season. They all played a busier schedule and it has paid off.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 exciting to watch this team grow from where we started,B次元官网网址� Wark said. B次元官网网址淲e just keep improving and improving and improving.B次元官网网址�

Pilote and Rusnell debuted at the Scotties in 2015 with skip Patti Knezevic. This is also the second career nationals appearance for Sandwith, who played with Kesa Van Osch in 2014.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want this to be a one-time curling experience,B次元官网网址� Wark said. B次元官网网址淚 want to make a curling career out of it. I need to learn lots now, take it all in and just continue it in the years to come.B次元官网网址�

Five-way tie still pushed Alberta and Ontario through

Earlier in the day, Team Wild Card defeated British Columbia 11-6 and Alberta dumped Saskatchewan 10-3. Ontario needed an extra end to get by Prince Edward Island 7-6 as Homan hit a draw to the four-foot ring to win.

A five-way tie at 8-3 was a possibility entering the night draw, but Alberta and Ontario knew they would advance regardless due to head-to-head records.

The winner of the Page 1-2 game will advance directly to the final Sunday evening. The 3-4 game winner will play the 1-2 loser in the semifinal Sunday afternoon.

P.E.I. finished at 6-5 and B.C. was 5-6. The eight other teams in the 16-team competition did not make it out of the preliminary round.

The Scotties winner will represent Canada at the March 16-24 world womenB次元官网网址檚 curling championship in Silkeborg, Denmark.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press

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