Scotties hero? Sasha Carter fits the bill

It seemed like the night might be Jennifer Jones' for the taking. But Sasha Carter and Kelly Scott made sure it would not be.

When your first point of a curling match comes when you draw the pin in the first end, that's supposed to be a harbinger of good things to come.

And that's just what Jones accomplished, throwing what may very well be her best shot, the in-turn draw, against a red rock purposefully placed next to the button by Scott.

Funny thing, though. Scott wasn't terribly fazed. She did as she's done all week, calmly and coolly guiding her team to yet another victory and now, a berth in the Scotties Final on Sunday afternoon, in Red Deer.

While British Columbia's 7-5 playoff win over Manitoba had Scott's fingerprints all over it, it was Carter's inspired play that cemented the victory.

In fact, her stunning performance may just be the best story to come out of this year's Scotties.

Carter was steady with gusts to spectacular, finishing the game shooting a sensational 88%, second best of any player on the ice, save for Manitoba lead Dawn Askin, at 90%.

Impressive enough. But, now consider something else.

She's 37 years old, expecting a baby in August and spent part of this past week in hospital.

The flu bug that raced through the tournament earlier in the week was particularly nasty to Carter. She missed two games on Monday due to the virus, attempted to play through the discomfort on Tuesday and ended up in a hospital bed on Wednesday, being hydrated through an intravenous drip.

When she returned to action on Thursday, she immediately lifted Scott's rink with an incredible 94% game in a win over Prince Edward Island.

Against the Jones rink in the 1 vs 2 Page Playoff game, Carter made most, if not all, of her routine shots and then punctuated her night with a spectacular run back double in the 8th, getting her team out of trouble when it appeared the Manitobans were on the way to stealing a point. Had they done that, the score would have been 5-5 heading for the 9th. Instead, Scott ended up with a routine draw for a point and a 6-4 lead.

Carter then was instrumental in holding Jones to a single in the 9th, when she made a difficult hit and roll perfectly. For the hell of it, she peeled two guards in the 10th, making it a cakewalk home for Scott.

Quite a story. Makes me wonder if maybe I should spend a little time with a nasty flu bug, to improve my own game.

It also makes me wonder just what Sasha Carter will do for an encore in the Scotties Final, on Sunday afternoon.