Robyn SIlvernagle’s run through the provincial playdowns came up one win short Sunday in Melville.
Her Twin Rivers Curling Club rink, which includes third Dayna Demers, second Christina Goertzen and lead Kara Thevenot, were defeated by Moose Jaw’s Penny Barker in the Viterra Saskatchewan Scotties women’s championship game in a thrilling 10-7 affair.
The Silvernagle rink, who finished in the round-robin with a 7-1 record and defeated Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton in a 9-7 extra-end contest in the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game Saturday night, found themselves in trouble early as Barker stole points in the first three ends to take a 4-0 lead.
Down 5-2 at the fifth-end break, Silvernagle began to claw her way back as she picked up a single point in the sixth and stole another in the seventh to cut the lead down to one.
In the eighth end, Silvernagle was lying three after her last shot without the hammer, but Barker made a clutch draw to the button for a single point and a 6-4 lead.
Silvernagle, who was looking to win her first provincial title since capturing the junior crown in 2005, picked up her first lead of the game in the ninth end as a series of strong shots by her team gave her three points and a 7-6 advantage.
Already sitting one before she threw her last shot in the 10th end, Barker made a takeout to earn four points and capture her first provincial title.
Barker, who is joined on her rink by third Deanna Doig, second Lorraine Schneider and lead Danielle Sicinski, completed a remarkable run to the championship.
After going 4-4 in the round-robin, Barker defeated Biggar’s Brett Barber 9-3 in Saturday’s tiebreaker game and then rallied from a 6-2 deficit to pick up an 8-6 win over Saskatoon’s Nancy Martin in the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff game.
She then stole three points in the final end of Sunday’s semifinal to defeat Lawton by a score of 8-6.
Next up for the Barker rink is a trip to Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which will be held in St. Catherines, Ont. from Feb. 18 to 26.
The Silvernagle rink didn’t leave the provincials empty-handed, as Demers received the Marj Mitchell Award for sportsmanship and competitiveness.
