One of the greatest Manitoba curling teams of all-time is Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts champions for the fourth time.

Jennifer Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer and Dawn McEwen defeated Darcy Robertson of Assiniboine Memorial 7-6 in the final of the 2018 Provincial Scotties Sunday afternoon in Killarney.

“I really like how we started,” said Jones shortly after the Closing Ceremonies at the Shamrock Centre. “Then there was two ends that I would like to have over again but we had the last rock coming home and we thought we’d have to make a shot to win and we did. Pretty exciting for the fans.”

Robertson trailed 5-2 but got three in the eighth end and stole one in nine to take a 6-5 lead coming home.

Jones calmly found a piece of the button with her final rock of the tenth end for their winning deuce.

“If you don’t feel butterflies, why would you play?” answered Jones when asked if those shots had gotten any easier over the years or if she still feels some butterflies when she’s in the hack.

“That’s what make sport exciting. If it was a guarantee and if you didn’t the heartbreaks and the disappointments then the ups wouldn’t be as fun. I think the nerves and the excitement and the butterflies and the adrenaline rush is what sport is all about and the moment that stops is the moment I stop curling.”

Robertson, Karen Klein, Vanessa Foster and Theresa Cannon outscored Kerri Einarson of East St. Paul 9-7 in the semifinals on Sunday morning but couldn’t get the job done against Jones.

“I just think we didn’t play as good as we usually do,” said Roberston. “We tried our best out there. I under threw that last one. I mean we had it in the bag but I under threw that last one and it’s just too bad.”

Jones, Officer and McEwen will need to find a replacement for Lawes before they leave for the Canadian Women’s Curling Championship in Penticton.

Lawes won’t be able to make the trip west as she’ll be competing in Mixed Doubles with John Morris at the Winter Games in South Korea next month and due to a scheduling conflict will not be available for the National Scotties.

Lawes says it will really hit home when her teammates head off for British Columbia and she’s not on that plane.

“They’ll be flying before I leave for Korea. It’s going to be really hard to see them play with someone else. I’m sad that I’ve put them in that position but we always knew that it was a possibility that one of us couldn’t be there and I hoped that we would have that problem with one our teammates. I’m so terribly proud and honoured to be going the Olympics. I wish I could do both.”

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts will be held January 27th - February 4th.


photo courtesy CurlManitoba