Despite a buzz from spectators that suggested the Yukon No. 1 rink, Team Hewitt, might throw in the towel after the ninth end, the hometown team fought on, attempting a giant steal to force an extra end.
However, NWT’s No. 1 rink, Team Galusha kept the house clean, taking the game 9-5 and earning a trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as the territories’ representatives.
“We wouldn’t quit, we’re just trying to wear out the other team,” said Jaime Hewitt, Team Hewitt’s skip who throws lead.
“Maybe they would quit,” she joked.
Since both teams came into the final game with 4-1 records, all the chips were on the table as Team Galusha made a steal in the second end to go up 3-1.
“We started off a bit slow,” said Dawn Moses, who throws third rock for Team Galusha. “In the second we scored three points, and we were fairly fortunate to get the three points and even more fortunate to get the steal.”
“There was a lot of missed opportunities,” said Hewitt. “We made a lot of shots and they made more. In the end they came out on top…
“They just had a better game today.”
After allowing a couple points in the fourth end, Team Galusha got back on track, with pairs of points in the fifth and sixth, to go up 8-3.
“From there we knew we needed to maintain our focus, stay tough and hold them to one point if they have the hammer and try to score two or more when we have the hammer,” said Moses.
Finally, as they attempted to set up a four-point steal in the 10th end, Team Hewitt’s efforts were thwarted as Team Galusha consistently knocked out the Hewitt rocks until there were none left to throw.
“At that point we’re playing the last end, we have the hammer and we’re up by four points,” said Moses. “Our strategy is to keep the house as clean as possible.”
“We still had rocks in play, but they were too far out so we couldn’t knock them in,” said Hewitt. “We threw our last rocks, so we did as much as we could and we just didn’t get our four.
“There was no earthquake to shake them in.”
This will not be the first trip to the Scotties for some members of Team Galusha. Skip Kerry Galusha will be making her fifth trip to the women’s national tournament being held February 21 to March 1 in Victoria. Moses will be making her eighth trip to the Scotties, having also gone years ago as part of a Yukon rink before making the move to Yellowknife.
The Galusha squad had won their first game against Team Hewitt Saturday afternoon, grabbing four points in the second end en route to a 7-4 score.
Also vying for a spot at the nationals was Yukon’s Team Grant, featuring Leslie Grant, Corinne Delaire, Tamar Vandenberghe and Doris Bouvier. The Grant rink finished third with a 2-4 record. NWT’s Team Allen finished fourth having only won their final game 9-7 over Team Grant Sunday morning.
Hewitt’s teammates were Helen Strong, Rhonda Horte and Sandra Mikkelsen. However, when Team Hewitt took the Yukon’s No. 1 seed at the start of the year, the team included Carrie Stahl filling in for an absent Horte.
“We didn’t come together today until the end,” said Hewitt. “That’s fine, we had nothing to lose. We were just there to have fun this weekend.
“It was fun for the most part, it wasn’t stressful—until we were down points.”
Contact Tom Patrick
at tomp@yukon-news.com