Alberta finally rewarded with a pair of wins

RED DEER, Alta. — It took her four days, but Alberta’s Heather Nedohin can finally say her team is on a roll at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Nedohin’s team from Edmonton — third Beth Iskiw, second Jessica Mair and lead Laine Peters — racked up back-to-back wins for the first time on Tuesday at the Enmax Centrium, and the timing couldn’t be any better as the final push for playoff positions approaches.

A 10-5 win over P.E.I.’S Kim Dolan on Tuesday night, coming on the heels of a 7-4 win over B.C.’S Kelly Scott in the afternoon draw, left the Albertans with a 4-3 record, tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with Saskatchewan’s Michelle Englot, Quebec’s MarieFrance Larouche and New Brunswick’s Rebecca Atkinson.

More importantly, it gave the Albertans a sense that their solid performances in the first four days are finally being rewarded.

“We’re calling it turnaround Tuesday,” said Nedohin with a smile. “That felt really good out there. I think we played solid as a team. And you know what? I think we’ve played solid and consistently throughout. But today was a good day, and momentum is a good thing.”

Heading into the P.E.I. game, only Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones foursome (5-2, tied for top spot with Team Canada’s Amber Holland and B.C.’S Scott) had been shooting better as a team than Alberta, but until Tuesday, it wasn’t enough to consistently produce victories.

Team Canada could have entered play today alone in top spot, but simply blew a game late Tuesday, giving up a steal of one in the 10th and three more in the 11th to lose 8-5 to Quebec.

Scott’s scrappy B.C. team gutted out an 11-7 win in the late draw over Newfoundland’s Heather Strong despite third Sasha Carter looking awfully wobbly a day after missing her team’s games with the nasty stomach bug that has wreaked havoc on some players.

“Thank God it didn’t go down to the wire,” said Scott. “Saving the team one end of play is a great thing right now.”