TIMMINS, Ont. — Saskatchewan’s Renee Wood will be playing for a medal at the Canadian Under-18 girls curling championship on Saturday afternoon, and the only question now is which colour.
Wood and her Saskatoon foursome of third Edie Jardine, second Amelia Whiting, lead Winnie Morin and alternate Abby Hogeboom advanced to the tournament semifinal with a 5-4 win over Northern Ontario’s Lily Wright on Friday, with a win there on Saturday morning will advancing the Sutherland rink to the gold medal game.
As the score would indicate, it was a close contest for Saskatchewan in their quarter-final. Wood got things started with one in the first end and that would stand as the lone point on the board until Wright picked up a single in the fourth. Northern Ontario then stole two in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead, but Wood came right back with a deuce to tie things up.
The teams then exchanged single points the next two frames to see things tied 4-4 through eight, sending the contest to an extra end. There, Wood would get the steal to take the win and move on to the semis.
It’s been a stellar week in general for Saskatchewan’s lone girls team at the event, as they posted a 5-1 record in the round robin to finish in first place in Pool C and earn a bye to the quarter-final.
Wood will take on a familiar face in the semifinal at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, with fellow Pool C competitor Myra McEvoy of Nova Scotia defeating British Columbia’s Megan Rempel to earn her final four berth. The two teams met back on Tuesday in the round robin, with Wood rolling to a 9-3 victory.
The news wasn’t as good for Esterhazy’s Brandon Weiss in the boys draw, as they’d fall 6-4 to Ontario’s Aaron Genjaga in their quarter-final contest.
Weiss, third Josh Lussier, second Tyler Derksen and lead Carter Nelson found themselves in a back-and-forth battle throughout, and after picking up single points in three straight ends held a 4-2 lead with two to play. Genjaga broke things open with the only multiple-point score in the contest with three in the seventh, though, and added a steal in the eighth to book their semfiinal spot.
A win for Wood in her semifinal would see Saskatchewan advance to the gold medal game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, a loss will see the foursome play for bronze at the same time.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.curling.ca for regular updates from medal Saturday at the U18 nationals!
