Seven-time provincial champion Jennifer Jones downed East St. Paul’s Kerri Einarson 9-5 at the 2018 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts to advance to the championship final.
Jones erased a 2-0 deficit in the 1-vs-1 page playoff by scoring a deuce in the fourth end. The top-ranked skip later stole two points in both the fifth and tenth frames. She also hung a pair in the seventh end as well as a single in the ninth.
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Einarson entered the game undefeated after posting a 7-0 record in the round robin. The number two seed struck first with a single point in the second end before stealing another in the third. She also registered a point in the eighth and a deuce in the sixth.
In the 2-vs-2 page playoff, third seed Darcy Robertson needed an extra end to eliminate Joelle Brown’s unranked team 9-7.
Fourth seed Shannon Birchard and fifth-ranked Meilleur both failed to make the playoffs after finishing the week with identical 3-4 records.
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Robertson will meet Einarson in Sunday morning’s semifinal. The winner of the game will advance to face Jones later that afternoon in the provincial final.
SCOTTIES BEST: The 2018 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts all-stars were unveiled prior to the page playoff games. Einarson was named the tournament’s top skip after leading her foursome to a perfect round robin record. Team Brown third Susan Baleja, Team Jones second Jill Officer and Team Robertson lead Theresa Cannon were also named the best in their position.