Manitoba and Ontario in Scotties final; Canada and B.C. play for bronze medal

Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones rebounded from a loss to Ontario on Saturday night to earn her spot in the Final of the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts after defeating Team Canada’s Heather Nedohin 8-5 in the Semifinal on Sunday morning. As they had in the game against Ontario in the Page 1 vs 2 playoff, Jones and her team of Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer and Dawn Askin seemed to struggle with the ice early. Team Canada had the edge on rock placement through the first four ends, forcing Manitoba to make the difficult shots and holding them to singles. In the fifth, Jones came up short on her final draw, allowing Nedohin to draw for two, and a 4-2 lead heading into the break. But the momentum shifted as Jones fought back in the eighth. With the four foot full of rocks, Nedohin was forced to attempt a tricky tap-back for two. She rubbed off a guard, pushing a Manitoba rock in and allowing the steal for two, putting Jones ahead 4-2. The momentum continued to swing in Manitoba’s favour. A triple by Jones forced Nedohin into taking a single in nine, and Team Canada just wasn’t able to get rocks in position in the tenth, allowing Manitoba to score the deuce for an 8-5 win and a ticket to the final against Homan. “I thought we hung in there and fought for that win,” said Jones. “We’d have our deuce set up and then they’d make a good one. I think getting a deuce in seven was a big point for us, and obviously the steal of two in eight.” “But we hung in there,” she said. “I’m really proud of the girls.” Nedohin, Beth Iskiw, Jessica Mair and Laine Peters will meet B.C.’s Kelly Scott in the Bronze Medal game, a rematch of last year’s Scotties final. “We came out with great intentions and I thought we executed really well,” said Nedohin. “A big steal hurt us in eight, but I really thought we showed great character, we kept grinding and it was a great battle.” The Scotties continues with the Bronze Medal game at 2 p.m. on TSN2/RDS and the Final at 7 p.m. on TSN/RDS2 (all times EST), the official broadcast partner of the Season of Champions. Live scoring, statistics and updated standings are available at https://www.curling.ca/championships/scotties/draw-schedule/scores-and-standings/ httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNdYI8ajWk8