By Kevin Mitchell, Star Phoenix
Skip Brady Scharback says things were "a little tense" before Monday's provincial junior men's curling final in Weyburn.
His Saskatoon Sutherland team used that tension productively, pounding Saskatoon Granite's Cole Tenetuik 9-2 in the finale and clinching their second straight berth at nationals.
It was a trip they wanted badly after going 7-5 at Canadians last year and missing the playoffs.
"It's really hard playing the final," Scharback said from Weyburn. "On the one hand, you've got the jitters because you want to make it there so bad. But you've got to make sure you push that away."
In the women's final, Saskatoon Granite's Jessica Hanson upended defending provincial champion Kristen Streifel of Saskatoon Nu-tana 9-8 in an extra end.
Next comes nationals Feb. 2-10 in Fort McMurray, Alta. - and Scharback makes no secret that their goal is to win the thing.
"We know what we have to do at nationals now," said the 19-year-old Scharback, who plays with Quinn Hersikorn at third, Jake Hersikorn at second and Brady Kendel at lead. "We're not going in completely blind. We're experienced, and we know what we have to do to win. Hopefully we can do that and bring home a gold.
"We played really well at nationals; it was mainly strategy errors that got us in trouble. I think we've fixed that up this year, and we're going to have a really good shot at bringing home a gold," added Scharback.
Scharback's quartet scored three in the fourth end to take a 5-1 lead, and put the game on ice by stealing two each in the fifth and sixth ends.
Saskatoon teams dominated the final day at the provincial junior championship, with four city squads making the men's and women's finals.
On the women's side, Hanson's foursome clinched the provincial crown with their tight 11-end win over Streifel.
Hanson, who curls with third Kourtney Fesser, second Teresa Waterfield and lead Krista Fesser, trailed 6-4 after six ends. They scored two each in the seventh and ninth ends while holding Streifel to singles in eight and 10, setting the stage for the extra-end victory.
Both teams are bound for the Canadian championship Feb. 2-10 in Fort McMurray, with the winners advancing to the world championship Feb. 29 to March 10 in Sochi, Russia.
PROVINCIAL FINALS
Jessica Hanson (Saskatoon Granite) 9,
Kristen Streifel (Saskatoon Nutana) 8
Brady Scharback (Saskatoon Sutherland) 9,
Cole Tenetuik (Saskatoon Granite) 2
kmitchell@thestarphoenix.com
