Kesa Van Osch knocked off a curling titan to win her first B.C. Scotties title Sunday night.
Van Osch, a 22-year-old rookie competing at the provincial women's championships, stole a last-rock 5-4 victory over six-time B.C. champ Kelly Scott of Kelowna at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
With the win, Van Osch and her rink of third Stephanie Baier, second Jessie Sanderson and lead Carley Sandwith, now advance to the national Scott Tournament of Hearts in Montreal Feb. 1-9.
Van Osch, whose team curls out of the Victoria Curling Centre, said she wasn't nervous at all despite the bright lights of a national sports network, she and her teammates miked up, and a packed crowd along the single sheet of ice.
"We had never played Scott before until this week," Van Osch said afterwards. "We knew we'd have to come out and play our A game to beat her tonight. Our plan was to play our game, keep it simple at first and figure out the ice and then go for it in the last half."
Trailing 4-2 going into the eighth end, Van Osch, already lying one after Scott's last-rock take-out rolled out, had an open draw to the top-12 foot with her last rock to earn her deuce and tie the game.
That was the turning point in the game.
"You want to keep pressure on the other team and make them make some difficult shots," she said.
Scott and her team of third Jeanna Schraeder, second Sasha Carter, lead Sarah Wazney, blanked the ninth end to retain the hammer going into the final 10th end.
Van Osch had clogged up front of house with a series of guards and was lying two, thanks to her last rock when she drew behind a centre guard to sit shot on the top of the button.
Scott's final rock, a heavy draw to nudge the rock out, came up light by a few inches, giving Van Osch the win and the B.C. title.
Van Osch was the top team to beat all week finishing the round-robin with an 8-1 record. She lost to Scott in Friday's Page 1-2 playoff game 8-6, and then qualified for the championship final after a decisive 10-2 victory in Saturday's semifinal over Allison MacInnes of Abbotsford.
"Our goal was just to make the playoffs," Van Osch said. "Our whole team has never played in provincials before. Nationals was always in the back of our minds, but we were focused on this week."
Meanwhile, even though they fell short of a B.C. title, Prince George rinks Patti Knezevic and Tracey Jones who were competing a home provincials for the first time last week, couldn't say enough about playing at home in front of their family and friends.
"It was an awesome experience," Knezevic said, who lost to MacInnes in Saturday's Page 3-4 game. "The fans were fantastic, it really lifted us. We maybe didn't have the best week of curling but it was enjoyable and the host committee did a bang-up job."
And while Jones lost in a final, do-or-die tiebreaker that didn't finish until just past midnight Friday, one that would qualify them for the fourth playoff spot, competing at home was worth it in the end.
"It really was a week to cherish, to play in front of hometown fans and family," Jones said Sunday prior to the championship final. "It truly was a great experience. My team never gave up and I'm so proud of my team."
