Jacqueline Harrison and her Mississauga-based team are heading straight through to Sunday’s final at the Ontario Scotties in Cobourg.
Harrison, who had already clinched a playoff spot, earned the direct berth to the championship game by wrapping up round-robin play Friday with a 6-5 victory over Heather Heggestad of Thornhill.
Team Harrison topped the table with a 6-1 record.
Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan (5-2) will play Saturday’s semifinal against Cathy Auld of Dundas, who ousted Allison Flaxey of Caledon 10-4 in the evening tiebreaker.
Flaxey soared in the second half to defeat Homan 7-4 during the afternoon to force a tiebreaker game.
Homan, a two-time Ontario champion, opened the scoring in the second end when Flaxey looked to run back her own stone and take out the shot-rock counter for two, but didn’t get the right angle and gave up a steal. Flaxey, winner of the 2014 provincial title, tied it with a single in the third.
A missed opportunity by Homan in the fifth end shifted the momentum in Flaxey’s favour. Homan looked to split her own guard in for three points but couldn’t capitalize and only scored one. Flaxey faced a similar situation in six and managed to pull it off for three and a 4-2 advantage.
Homan was held to another single in seven and fell into trouble in eight with a couple missed calls as Flaxey was able to ease her last in for another three-count to lead 7-3.
Homan was forced to make a double takeout for just one in the ninth. Down by three points and without the hammer in the final frame, Homan ran out of options — and eventually rocks — as her first skip stone came up short of the house.
It was a repeat of this season’s WFG Masters final where Flaxey toppled Homan to capture her first career Grand Slam title.
Auld ensured her spot in a tiebreaker defeating Megan Balsdon of Mississauga 6-4.
Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater shut out Julie Tippin of Woodstock 7-0 as both teams finished with 3-4 records. Middaugh and Tippin needed Flaxey and Auld to both lose their matches in order to bring three-win teams into the mix for a messy tiebreaker scenario.
Heggestad, who finished at 2-5, was also in contention until her loss to Harrison. Balsdon (1-6) was the only one officially eliminated prior to the final draw.
Meanwhile, Scott Bailey of Dundas (6-3) has booked a playoff spot on the men’s side with a 7-6 extra-end win over Cory Heggestad of Barrie.
