Royal City Curling Club’s Kristy Lewis rink was hustled out of the B.C. Scotties women’s championships by six-time provincial champion Kelly Scott of Kelowna.
The Lewis foursome, including third Jody Maskiewich, second Barb Zbeetnoff and lead Jenn Howard, were knocked out of the quarter-final playoff following a 9-1 loss to Scott at Golden Ears Winter Club in Maple Ridge on Sunday.
Lewis gave up steals in the third and fourth ends, a triple in the fifth and a deuce in the sixth before calling it quits in the eighth end.
Prior to that, Lewis earned a spot in the playoff with an 8-6 win over Vancouver’s Diane Gushulak in the C event.
The New Westminster rink opened the Scotties with a steal of one in the eighth end to get past Dailene Sivertson of Victoria 5-3.
Lewis and company were then bumped to the B event 7-5 after giving up three in the 10th to eventual finalist Sarah Wark of Victoria.
The Royal City clubbers scored two in the first, another deuce in the fourth and a big three in the ninth to get past Nanaimo’s Kesa Van Osch in the C ladder.
But Scott again came between her and a win, edging the Lewis rink 10-9 with a final-end triple following RCCC’s comeback three in the seventh and four in the ninth.
Prince George skip Patti Knezevic was a fourth-time lucky, winning the 2015 B.C. Scotties championship, with a 5-3 victory over Wark in an extra end.
In the 10th end, Knezevic, who went to three previous provincial finals losing to Scott in 2005 and 2013 and Kelly Law in 2007, left the house open for Wark to draw for two to win.
But the Victoria skip settled for a single, giving Knezevic back the hammer.
Knezevic, who stepped in as a fifth for last year’s B.C. champion Team Van Osch, made two in the final end to claim her first provincial crown.
“I was just relieved that I didn’t have to play a Kelly in the final,” said Knezevic in a Curling B.C. press release.
The Prince George foursome, which includes third Kirsten Fewster, second Jen Rusnell and lead Rhonda Camozzi, will now represent B.C. at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Sask., where they will compete alongside Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones and two-time defending Scotties champion Rachel Homan.
The Canadian women’s national championships takes place from Feb. 14 to 22.
