The third time was the charm for Kerri Einarson.
After finishing runner-up at the past two Manitoba provincials, Einarson won the title with a 7-5 win over Kristy McDonald on Sunday in Bousejour.
The East St. Paul-based team of Einarson, third Selena Kaatz, second Liz Fyfe, and lead Kristin MacCuish are now off to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Feb. 20-28 in Grande Prairie, Alta.
McDonald, who defeated Einarson in the 1 vs. 1 page playoff, opened with the hammer and scored a deuce in the second end to go up 2-0.
Einarson blanked the third to retain the hammer for the fourth end. McDonald attempted a double takeout in four but jammed and Einarson capitalized with a hit and stick for two that tied it.
The teams alternated pairs of points again as McDonald, from Winnipeg, got another deuce in the fifth and Einarson matched with two in the eighth.
The game took a sharp turn in the ninth when McDonald’s last shot broke and Einarson picked up a huge steal of three to take the lead. McDonald had two stones in the house in the final end, but Einarson just needed to punch one of them out to clinch the championship.
Earlier Sunday, Einarson defeated Shannon Birchard 8-3 in the semifinal.
Birchard was playing in just her second career Manitoba Scotties. The 21-year-old Birchard played with Kaatz and MacCuish in juniors and finished runner-up at the 2012 Canadian junior championships. She was a finalist at the Canadian junior championships in 2013 as well.