Patti Knezevic was the latest victim in Kelly Scott's stranglehold on women's curling in British Columbia.
In the final of the BC Scotties Women's Curling championship on Sunday at the Cloverdale Curling Club, Knezevic fell behind early and couldn't recover as Scott cruised to a 9-6 win to earn her fourth straight BC Scotties title as a skip. It was over for the Prince George Curling Club team, including third Kristen Fewster, second Jen Rusnell and lead Rhonda Camozzi, before the fifth-end break as they were already down 6-3.
"We had a fantastic week," said Knezevic about posting an overall 8-4 record. "I'm very proud of this team we showed a lot of character and had very few missed opportunities. We'll build on what we have."
Scott showed her experience early grabbing a deuce in the first end with the hammer and then forced Knezevic to a single in the second end to get the last-rock advantage back. The Kelowna Curling Club team took advantage in the third scoring a three-spot for the 5-1 lead and then stole one in the fourth to go up 6-1.
Knezevic had a shot for three of her own in the fifth end but her shot rock rolled too far and she only counted a pair.
Rick Fewster, coach for Team Knezevic, said the game was closer than the final score showed.
"There was a couple of ends that we had a couple misfortunes on but other than that it could've gone either way," said Fewster, pointing out a missed freeze left Scott an open shot for three in the definitive end.
Fewster and Rusnell struggled in Saturday night's 8-7 semifinal win over Marla Mallett's Cloverdale Curling Club team and their difficulties carried over into the final as both were curling under 50 per cent in the first half of the game. The semifinal and final games was the first time Fewster, Rusnell and Camozzi ever played with TV cameras following their every move and having mikes recording their every word, which may have resulted in a few extra nerves.
With a comfortable lead Scott turned conservative in the final half of the game, keeping the ice clean. Scott restored her five-rock lead with a deuce in the sixth end and then stole one in the seventh to go up 9-3.
Scott's defensive strategy only allowed Knezevic to snag her own deuce in the eighth end and she was able to steal one in the ninth end but Scott ran the Prince George skip out of rocks after a double takeout with her first rock in the final end.
It was the third time Knezevic lost to Scott at the championships where both teams, along with Mallett, finished on top of the standings with 7-2 records. Knezevic earned the top spot but lost to Scott in the 1-2 game and was forced to play in Saturday's semifinal while Scott advanced directly to the final. In the Page-playoff 1-2 loss, Knezevic rebounded from a 7-4 deficit to tie the game at 7-7 and force an extra end, but Scott had the hammer and earned the 8-7 win. In their head to head game during the week Scott beat Knezevic 6-4.
The Knezevic team was put together this season as last year Rusnell represented Prince George and earned a spot in the tiebreaker while Knezevic threw final rocks for a Kamloops based team that finished 0-9.
Knezevic said the plan is for the team to stick together and represent Prince George again at the 2014 BC Scotties Tournament of Hearts when it's hosted at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club in January.
"I truly believe we can put on one of the best Scotties ever in British Columbia," said Knezevic.
Scott and her Kelowna team of Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter, Sarah Wazney and coach Brent Giles will represent B.C. at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kingston, Ont., Feb. 9-17. Last year, Scott was the runner up to Manitoba's Jennifer Jones, her former junior teammate when they played together in Manitoba.
The last time a Prince George team to win the provincial women's curling championship was Diane Dalio's 1994 foursome of third Donna Gervais, second Rae Ann Copeland, lead Lorraine Flannigan and alternate Cheryle Wood. At the Canadian Tournament of Hearts in Kitchener, Ont., the Dalio team finished out of the playoffs with a 6-5 record.
