TISDALE - A couple of curlers with southeast Saskatchewan connections competed at the Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts women's curling provincials in Tisdale from Jan. 17-21.
Sherrilee Orsted, who has previously competed out of Estevan, skipped a team that competed out of the Moose Jaw Curling Centre. They dropped their first three games, but recovered to win the last two.
The Orsted rink opened with a 7-6 loss to Nancy Martin. Martin led 7-3 through eight ends, but Orsted scored two in the ninth and stole one in 10.
Their next game was a 10-4 loss to multi-time provincial champion Sherry Anderson. Orsted led 2-1 after three ends and was down 6-4 through eight, but Anderson scored four in the ninth to end the game.
The third game was a 9-2 loss to Penny Barker in seven ends. Both of Orsted's points came in the fourth end.
Orsted recovered to defeat former national champion Amber Holland 7-6. Orsted led 3-0 after three and 5-2 through six, but Holland stormed back with four unanswered points to lead 6-5. Orsted scored two in the 10th to win.
The final game was a 6-4 win over Brooklyn Stevenson. Orsted was down 4-2 at the fifth-end break, but she rallied with single points in the sixth, seventh, eighth and 10th ends. The final three points were steals.
Jade Bloor, who resides in the southeast, was the third on the Jana Tisdale rink that competed out of the Highland Curling Club in Regina. They went 1-4 at provincials.
Up first was a 7-5 loss to Robyn Silvernagle, who won provincials last year. Silvernagle led 6-2 after six ends, but a couple of points for Tisdale in the seventh and one in the ninth made it interesting. Silvernagle ran Tisdale out of rocks in the 10th.
Up next was a 9-5 loss in nine ends to Skylar Ackerman. Tisdale led 3-1 through four ends and 5-3 through six, but Ackerman rallied, and stole three in the ninth end to pull away.
Then she lost 5-4 to multi-time provincial champion Michelle Englot's rink. Tisdale fought back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game at fours after nine ends, but Englot scored one in 10.
The lone lopsided defeat was a 10-4 loss in eight ends to Jessica Mitchell. Tisdale opened with four in the first end, but Mitchell scored two in the second, and the rest of her points were from steals.
Tisdale's lone victory was an 8-2 win over Mandy Selzer. After two blank ends, Tisdale took over with two in the third and steals of two in the fourth and fifth ends.
Twelve teams were entered this year's tournament. They were divided into two pools of six for a round robin, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the playoffs.
