N.S. on top at junior women’s event

Nova Scotia improved its record to 4-1 on Tuesday after a 9-4 victory over Manitoba at the Canadian junior women’s curling championship.

The Nova Scotia squad, skipped by Kaitlyn Jones, also includes Colchester County cousins Karlee Burgess, at second, and Lindsey Burgess, at lead. Karlee is from Hilden and Lindsey is a Truro resident.

Nova Scotia played Alberta (4-1) in the late draw Tuesday in a battle for first place in Pool A (visit trurodaily.com for result).

Against Manitoba, Jones scored two in the second end and stole three in the third for a comfortable 5-0 lead. After Manitoba cut the deficit to two, Jones scored three in the sixth to put the game out of reach.

The Jones foursome opened the national championship with a 13-3 triumph Saturday over the Yukon, followed by a 12-2 loss to Quebec. On Sunday, the Bluenosers rebounded for a 6-2 win over Saskatchewan ad earned a 10-4 victory over New Brunswick on Monday.

On the men’s side, Nova Scotia’s Matthew Manuel is 3- 2 after an 8-7 loss to Quebec on Monday evening. Manual played Tuesday night against Saskatchewan.

TSN will carry live coverage of the semifinals (women at 2 p.m., men at 7 p.m.) on Saturday and the Sunday finals (women at 2 p.m., men at 7 p.m.) from the Arena de Grand Mere in Shawinigan.

The winning teams will represent Canada in the 2018 world junior championships March 3-11 in Aberdeen, Scotland.