Game of inches

SUMMERSIDE A 10th-end measurement was required to determine the 2009 P.E.I. Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion.

Robyn MacPhee of Charlottetown was awarded a single point and emerged with a 9-7 victory over clubmate Kim Dolan in the final game of the P.E.I. women's curling championship Monday night at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.

It was a great game, lots of great shots and it came right down to a measurement, so you cant ask for much more than that, said MacPhee, a 25-year-old lab technician at the Atlantic Veterinary College.

MacPhee, third stone Rebecca Jean MacPhee, second stone Shelley Muzika and lead Tammi Lowther advance to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Victoria, B.C.

It will be MacPhees first time skipping at a national competition since the 1999 Canada Winter Games.

Its a great feeling going to the Scotties, said MacPhee, who eliminated three-time defending champion Suzanne Birt 10-4 in Monday afternoons semifinal. Im pretty calm out there, but Im excited on the inside and I might not show it on the outside.

With each rink having one rock back four-foot in the final end, MacPhee was certain she was shot rock and threw her hammer shot to the boards.

Probably an inch, said MacPhee, explaining the proximity of the rocks. We knew it was (us), but we had to measure. I wouldnt have been very happy if it wasnt us.

After the rinks exchanged single points in the first two ends, they used last-rock advantage to exchange deuces over the next three ends for a 5-3 MacPhee lead at the fifth-end break.

Dolan pulled even with a deuce in the sixth, but MacPhee played a tap for three in the seventh end to go up 8-5.

That was a good extra point to get because we were trading deuces, said MacPhee. That proved to be the winning point.

Dolan counted a deuce in the eighth to close within 8-7, and MacPhee blanked the ninth end to maintain the hammer coming home.

MacPhee, who lost her opening round-robin game 9-3 to Dolan on Friday morning, regrouped to win her next six games.

We played great tonight and weve been building all weekend, said MacPhee in assessing her teams performance.

Dolans teammates are third stone Kathy O'Rourke, second stone Nancy Cameron and lead Trish Affleck.

It was a well-played game and there were a couple of opportunities I didnt capitalize on, said Dolan.

She described her final shot that led to the game-deciding measurement this way: I just had to curl a little bit. I had the right weight, but a little bit of line was missing. Thats the way it goes and thats curling.

(jpsports@journalpioneer.com)