St. Albert skip Karynn Flory and her Crestwood Curling Club rink were relegated into the seeding pool at the Canadian junior women’s championship in Fort McMurray.
Flory, third Holly Jamieson, second Klara Smiley and lead Katie Roskewich lost an 8-3 tiebreaker to Jessica Daigle of New Brunswick on Wednesday morning and were unable to advance into the championship round.
Flory led 2-1 after three ends, but gave up three in four and two in six to fall out of contention.
On Tuesday night Flory defeated Daigle 10-4 to force a tiebreaker. Both teams finished in a four-way tie for third place at 3-3 in pool A.
The top four teams in pools A and B in the 14-team competition made the cut.
The Alberta reps were 1-0 in the seeding round with two games to go. The seeding round determines the ninth through 14th rankings at next year’s nationals.
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This is Flory’s first appearance at nationals in her last year of junior eligibility. Her 71 shooting percentage tied for third-best among skips in the round robin.
The Bellerose Composite High School graduate and first-year NAIT student in personal fitness training is the product of the Little Rocks program at the St. Albert Curling Club.
The 20-year-old will also skip a NAIT women’s rink, which includes Smiley and Roskewich, at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championships, March 20 to 23 at the Avonair.
The St. Albert Skyhawks gave the No. 3-ranked 4A team in high school men’s basketball a scare in Monday’s loss in the metro Edmonton premier conference.
The Skyhawks trailed by four at halftime before bowing out 71-59 to the St. Francis Xavier Rams (8-0) in Edmonton.
Landon Fink and Jordan Morrison turned in strong defensive performances for the No. 3-ranked 3A team in the province.
The Skyhawks are now 3-4 in premier and 14-10 overall.
The next league game is Monday against the Sturgeon Spirits (3-4) at 5 p.m. in Namao.
Last weekend the Skyhawks finished third at the St. Peter the Apostle Tournament in Spruce Grove after defeating the host Spartans 64-55.
The Skyhawks tipped off the tournament with a 73-69 win against the Camrose Trojans, a 3A honourable mention, followed by a close 84-73 loss to the Edmonton Christian Lions, ranked No. 2 in 3A. It was a three-point game with 40 seconds to play when the calls didn’t go the Skyhawks’ way.
Next weekend the Skyhawks host their second annual men’s tournament at the SkyDome. Their first game is Friday at 12:30 p.m. against St. Peter the Apostle. The winner plays Edmonton Christian or the Leduc Tigers (No. 8 in 3A) in Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. semifinal. The other semifinal goes at 1:15 p.m.
The Strathcona Christian Academy Chargers, Bev Facey Falcons (4A honourable mention), Ernest Manning Griffins and Wetaskiwin Sabres (3A honourable mention) round out the eight-team draw.
Saturday’s schedule includes the consolation final at 4:45 p.m., third-place game at 6:30 p.m. and the final at 8:15 p.m.
Meanwhile, the lady Skyhawks improved to 8-0 in premier action, and 22-0 this season, in Wednesday’s 70-28 thumping of Bev Facey in Sherwood Park. Amber Easthope was the top scorer with 14 points. Brielle Wise added 11 and Kayla Ivicak had 10 for the 2012 premier champions.
Monday the Skyhawks host the winless Salisbury Sabres at 4:45 p.m.
This weekend the Skyhawks are competing in the Chestermere Lakers tournament. Friday they played the George McDougall Mustangs of Airdrie but the score was unavailable at press time.
A win would put the Skyhawks into today’s semifinal against the Springbank Phoenix, for a shot at meeting the host Lakers in the final. In the 3A rankings, the Skyhawks are No. 1 as the three-time defending provincial champions and the Lakers are an honourable mention.
The St. Albert Stealth were victorious at the Pacific Ring tournament last weekend in Richmond, B.C.
Katie Shigeta scored twice in the 4-2 win over the Central Alberta Sting in the U14 final. Maddy Sanders and Megan Shigeta also scored for the St. Albert Ringette Association’s first tween AA team. Both teams were assessed 14 penalty minutes.
In the round robin, the Sting defeated the Stealth 5-2. Ryiah Siffledeen and Claire Brubaker scored in the loss. The Stealth racked up 20 penalty minutes, compared to only eight for the Sting.
The Stealth’s 3-1 record in the round robin included their tournament-opening 12-0 win over Northern B.C. as Taylor Johnson posted the shutout.
In the semifinal, Annie Hood potted two goals in the 5-2 decision against Lower Mainland. Sanders, Lauryn Tremblay and Amanda Letourneau also scored.
The next game for the Stealth is Sunday against U16 A Edmonton in the Black Gold League’s U16 division. Start time is 2:15 p.m. at Troy Murray Arena.
The tween AA Provincials are Feb. 22 to 24 in Edmonton.
St. Albert is hosting the U16 A provincials March 1 to 3 at Servus Credit Union Place.
