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Anderson wins in extras to keep Scotties playoff hopes alive

Jan 29, 2016 | 10:38 PM

As Sherry Anderson dug into the hack for in the 11th end in Friday night’s 2016 Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts match against Mandy Selzer, she had the game and her team’s playoff hopes in her hand.

The Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club was silent, except for the muffled sound of Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” sneaking through from the lounge upstairs.

But Anderson, who’s been inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame, did not buckle under the pressure.  Instead, she made a ‘pretty’ shot right on the button to seal the 11-10 win over Selzer.

More importantly, it improves Anderson’s record to 2-2, meaning a win over Michelle Englot (3-1) in the final round robin draw Saturday at 10 a.m. would force a tiebreaker.

When asked about the pressure cooking situation, Anderson laughed it off and said she was fortunate to have an open shot at the button, with rocks to freeze on at the back of the house, to make the shot a little simpler.

“It was easier than I had anticipated the shot was going to be halfway through the end, so I was happy to basically throw the same shot I just threw,” said Anderson.

Although she made easy work of the final shot, the match was anything but.

Selzer scored three, three-enders in the game, including in the 10th end to erase a 10-7 Anderson lead and force the extra ends. In that end, Anderson attempted a tough runback which would have ended the game, but couldn’t hit out Selzer’s stone. That allowed Selzer to draw for three and tie the game, forcing extras.

Now after that whirlwind of a game, Anderson will surely be in for another battle against Englot. Englot started the tournament 3-0 before losing an extra-ender herself Friday afternoon 10-8 to Robyn Silvernagle. For Englot it’s simple, win and she’s in. If not, she’ll have another chance in a Pool B tiebreaker.

“That’ll be a tough one. Michelle and I have done battle for a lot of years,” said Anderson. “I anticipate it will be a tough game.”

Penny Barker also kept her playoff hopes alive with a 10-1 win over Kelsey Dutton. Like Anderson, Barker improved to 2-2 and is still in the hunt. For Barker to keep her playoffs alive, she will have to beat Robyn Silvernagle (4-0) to improve to 3-2, and see Anderson win to force a three-way tiebreaker in Pool B.

Jolene Campbell sure had an interesting game to stay undefeated at 4-0. She fell behind to Nancy Martin 3-0 after five ends, before scoring a five-ender in the sixth to take the lead. Martin answered with two in the seventh to tie the game. Martin then had a 7-6 lead in the ninth, but Campbell was able to get a game-winning two-ender in the game’s final end to win 8-7.

Campbell will play for first in the Pool A with fellow 4-0 rink Stefanie Lawton at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Both automatically advance to the page playoffs out of Pool A, but are playing for the pool’s top seed.

Nancy Inglis beat Kim Schneider 5-2.

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea