Jones’ bid for record seventh Scotties crown comes to end

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This article was published 27/02/2021 (1146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jennifer Jones exited the Scotties about 10 hours earlier than she’d hoped but vowed afterward she’s not ready for the curtain to come down on her legendary career.

The Manitoba skip came up short in her bid for a record seventh Canadian women’s curling championship, losing a tie-breaker in astonishing fashion Sunday morning in Calgary.

Jones and her St. Vital team surrendered a three-ender to Alberta’s Laura Walker, dropped a 9-8 decision and were eliminated on the 10th and final day of the event, staged in a competitive bubble — owing to the COVID-19 pandemic — at spectator-free Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park.

Two of Manitoba’s four losses since the Scotties kicked off Feb. 19 were administered by the Edmonton quartet.

The former Winnipegger said the defeat was a bittersweet ending to a championship that, earlier in the 2020-21 elite season, seemed almost unthinkable.

“I think we’re pretty happy with how the week went generally, pretty pleased with how we played at the end of the week, for sure, and a lot of great things coming out of it. Obviously, disappointing to end this way, but still happy we had the opportunity to play,” said Jones, just minutes after the conclusion of her 16th Scotties.

“(Curling Canada) has done an outstanding job, and players tried to take all the precautions we could to make sure everybody was staying healthy. We’re very fortunate they took a chance and found a way to host an event and give us the ability to play, which, like I said, we’re very grateful for.”

The 10th end, disastrous for a Manitoba squad leading by two, was carefully constructed by the Walker crew, particularly a pair of key draws from second Taylor McDonald and solid follow-up by Kate Cameron and Walker.

Staring from the hack at a trio of yellow opposition stones, Jones was forced to attempt a double-takeout with her last toss. But she chipped away only one and rolled out the shooter, gifting Walker an open draw for three.

Team Manitoba, with third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jocelyn Peterman, lead Lisa Weagle and fifth Raunora Westcott, stumbled to a 2-2 start early in the event but won seven of its next eight, including a crucial two-triumph day Saturday — getting the best of Ontario’s Rachel Homan and Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada — to slip into the tie-breaker.

“I felt like we played a good game (Sunday morning), we just had a really not great last end, let one kind of maybe slip,” Jones said. “I felt like we were getting on a little bit of a roll and wanted to play a little bit more today.”

Jones has 159 career wins at the Scotties, more than any other player in its history. Earlier in the week, she eclipsed the mark of 152 held by Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones.

The Olympic gold medallist (2014) and two-time world champion (2008, ’18) turns 47 in July. She lives near Barrie, Ont,, with her husband, Brent Laing, and their daughters, Isabella, 8, and Skyla, 4.

Voted the greatest women’s skip of all time by a TSN panel two years ago, Jones has mentioned a few times during chats with reporters she’s beginning to consider a life without competitive curling.

But no decisions will be made until after the Olympic Trials in November, set for Saskatoon.

“No, I’m not done that fast, no, no. I just mean that I’m not 20 anymore, so it’s gonna come eventually. I just don’t know when, yet,” she said.

And there’s still future business to attend to in the Calgary bubble.

“Actually, all of us are playing (national mixed doubles), the entire team will be at the Canadians, which is exciting, so we’re all back in a couple of weeks,” Jones said. “We’re playing in both of the (Grand) Slams (in April), as long as everything is still OK, and then we’ll re-evaluate and, hopefully, there’s some events in the fall that we can play in before the Olympic Trials.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell