By Canadian Press

Homan beats McCarville in 3-4 Page Playoff at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Feb 23, 2019 | 3:49 PM

SYDNEY, N.S. — Ontario’s Rachel Homan defeated Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville 6-4 in the 3-4 Page Playoff game on Saturday afternoon at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Up one with hammer coming home in the 10th, Homan hit a takeout for a single point and the victory.

The 1-2 Page game between Alberta’s Chelsea Carey and Saskatchewan’s Robyn Silvernagle was set for Saturday evening at Centre 200. 

Homan advanced to the semifinal on Sunday afternoon against the loser of the 1-2 game. The 1-2 winner will lock up a berth in Sunday night’s final against the semifinal winner.

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Northern Ontario started slowly with a few mistakes in the opening end. Third Kendra Lilly flashed a stone to give Ontario a chance to score three.

However, McCarville bailed out her team with a great double takeout to prevent a big end. Homan was held to an opening deuce.

Homan delivered a double takeout of her own in the second end that helped force McCarville to one point. The teams exchanged singles with Homan drawing the four-foot to take a 4-2 lead into the mid-game break.

McCarville was hoping to score a pair in the sixth end with hammer but she barely missed an angle runback. Northern Ontario did manage a single on a measure.

Homan threw through the empty house in the seventh and decided to score a single in the eighth end rather than blank.

That set Homan up with a two-point lead and gave McCarville — who led all teams with 21 steals over the competition — the hammer. 

With loads of rocks in play in the ninth, Homan nailed a hit to eliminate any chance of a deuce for a tie. That forced McCarville to deliver a tapback for one.

Both teams entered the playoffs with 8-3 records. Homan defeated McCarville 6-4 in the preliminary round opener.

This is the second year that the Scotties has used a 16-team format. Eight teams were cut after the preliminary round and four more were trimmed Friday night after the championship round.

The Scotties winner will represent Canada at the March 16-24 women’s world championship in Silkeborg, Denmark.

The Canadian men’s curling championship — the Tim Hortons Brier — is set for March 1-10 in Brandon, Man.

Notes: Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in attendance. … McCarville, Lilly and lead Sarah Potts were named to the competition’s second all-star team. Ontario’s Joanne Courtney took the honour at second. … Potts was also named the winner of the sportsmanship award. … Curling Canada announced that the 2021 Olympic Trials will be held at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press