Cameron through comfortably!

Team Kate Cameron solidifies Final 4 berth with commanding win over Team Ally MacNutt at 2024 PointsBet Invitational

It was all-business performance for Team Kate Cameron’s St-Adolphe, Man., foursome on Friday afternoon at the 2024 PointsBet Invitational.

Facing the hot-handed Team Ally MacNutt (Halifax), who had just upset No. 3 seed Team Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Man.), in Sweep 16 action Thursday, the sixth-seeded Team Cameron scored early and often to cruise to a comfortable 12-3 win in women’s Elite 8 action.

The game was never close. Suffocating defence from Team Cameron led to an array of Team MacNutt misses in the early goings, with Team Cameron leaping out to a 6-0 lead after just three ends of play.

Team Cameron’s performance is a welcome bounce-back from Thursday, when despite defeating Team Jolene Campbell (Regina) 8-5 in Sweep 16 action, Cameron felt her team did not bring its best.

“I don’t think, yesterday, we played our best,” said Cameron. “We wanted to reset. It didn’t matter who we were playing, and we wanted to put together a better team game.”

The reset allowed Team Cameron to maintain focus regardless of the runaway score — a situation they struggled with Thursday.

“We had a good lead yesterday and we were fighting to keep that lead,” said Cameron. “We almost gave it up, so I think today, that was our goal. To keep each end a little bit as its own objective and I think we focused more on that this game.”

The experience advantage firmly favoured Team Cameron, and it showed. Managing the ice proved easier for Team Cameron while the 14th-seed Team MacNutt simply could not keep pace; failing to adjust to draw speeds on the wings versus down the middle of the sheet.

“(Team MacNutt) is so great and they’re so close to making a lot of really great shots out there,” said Cameron. “I think they just, unfortunately, were on the wrong side of that inch. They played a lot better than the scoreboard shows.”

The win nets Team Cameron an additional $6,000 in winnings and a berth into the Final 4, but Cameron has her sights on nothing less than the $50,000 top prize.

“Nice little chunk of change there, but we’re not done yet,” said Cameron. “We want to keep going and push forward for tomorrow and see what happens.”

Meanwhile, more brackets were busted Friday afternoon as No. 10 seed Team Kayla Skrlik (Calgary) defeated the second-seeded Team Chelsea Carey (Winnipeg) 8-6.

The win marks the first time that Team Skrlik has cracked the Final 4 at a PointsBet Invitational after bowing out of 2023 edition of the single-elimination spiel with a loss to Team Kerri Einarson at Oakville, Ont.

“It’s really nice,” said Skrlik of the Final 4 berth. “We’re not in the (Canadian Team Ranking System) points until we’re in the final four, so this was a really important win for us.”

Skrlik, who is now the lowest remaining seed alive at the 2024 PointsBet Invitational, knew her team was the underdog entering Elite 8 play, but didn’t let that deter her confidence.

“I would say it’s an upset, yeah,” said Skrlik. “We’re really rolling this season with lots of games under our belt compared to Chelsea with the new team, so we were pretty confident going into this one.”

Rounding out the remaining Elite 8 matches on Friday, Team Kaitlyn Lawes (Winnipeg) bounced Team Selena Sturmay (Edmonton) 6-4 while reigning PointsBet Invitational champion Rachel Homan (Ottawa) stayed hot with an 8-4 win over Team Corryn Brown (Kamloops, B.C.).

The 2024 PointsBet Invitational continues with men’s Elite 8 at 8 p.m., (all times Mountain).

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This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2024pointsbetinvitational/nouvelles/?lang=fr