Team Cameron falls in Manitoba curling playoffs

Back-to-back Manitoba championships weren’t in the cards for Team Kate Cameron.

The St Adolphe-based rink fell in the semi-finals of the RME Women of the Rinks, hosted in Rivers this year, falling to the eventual champions Team Beth Peterson 13-7 after giving up a steal of four in the fifth end. Cameron made the page playoff game against Team Kaitlyn Lawes, but fell in that game as well.

Cameron defeated Peterson in last year’s final to clinch a spot at the National Championship.

“We’re pretty excited, we’ve worked hard for this. We don’t play a ton on tour; we focus on family a little bit too, but we work hard and we played really well this week,” Team Peterson third Kelsey Calvert told the Brandon Sun. Calvert has lost in four consecutive provincial finals in Alberta and Manitoba.

“We said before the game, we keep putting ourselves in these games, hopefully we’ll win one. If we play well, we can win one, and it went down to the end.”

The game ended on the final rock of the 10th end, with Lawes drawing up a delicate tap-back to score two and win the game. She ticked the guard going by and ended up promoting a Peterson stone to give the team a shocking victory.

Cameron needed a strong Manitoba performance to qualify for the Scotties, but Team Lawes may nab the third and final wild-card spot, as they’re ranked fifth in the country. Cameron currently sits 11th. The Scotties take place Jan. 23 and are in Mississauga this year.

With files from Thomas Friesen