And with a victory over the two-time former national Scotties winner on Sunday afternoon in Assiniboia, Barker is once again the Viterra Scotties provincial women’s curling champion.
Barker and her Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre rink of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski took a 7-5 victory in the title game, after falling to Carey in both the A-final and Page 1-2 game.
Barker took control of the contest in the ends leading up to the mid-game break, as she scored a pair in the third and stole single points in the fourth and fifth to build a 5-2 lead.
It marked one of the rare times in her battles with Carey that she held an edge on the scoreboard, and it was an up-and-down situation for the now two-time Viterra Scotties champion.
“It has its moments,” Barker said on the CurlSask.ca webcast after the win. “Sometimes it can be a little harder because you’re going off those offensive and defensive plays, but whenever there was a choice, I made the call that I would go offensive and put more pressure on. I think we did a great job of that today.”
Barker stole one in the first end before Carey used the hammer to pick up two the following frame, but the local foursome would regain the lead an end later when Barker executed a light tap-back on a Carey counter at the back of the four-foot to earn her deuce.
Barker kept the pressure on in the fourth end and forced Carey to attempt a double take-out on a pair of rocks in the four-foot, but Carey would only get one, giving Barker the steal and a 4-2 lead.
An excellent double by third Jolene Campbell set up Carey for three in the fifth end, but a Barker freeze on the button changed the tone of the frame. Carey flashed on an attempt to pick Barker’s counter, leading Barker to guard at the top of the 12-foot. Carey then tried an angle-raise take-out but would miss, giving Barker the steal and a 5-2 lead heading into the fifth-end break.
Carey had a draw to the four-foot with backing for one in the sixth and would make no mistake, pulling back within two.
With the hammer for the first time since the third end in the seventh, Barker ended up facing four Carey counters with her final shot. She went for a triple take-out, but would only get two, giving Carey the steal of one to get back within a single point 5-4.
Things looked a lot better on Barker’s last shot in the eighth end, as she already sat one at the top of the four foot and would draw down to backing for her deuce, taking a 7-4 edge with two frames remaining.
Barker set things up nicely heading into Carey’s final shot of the ninth end, forcing her to draw to the four-foot with backing to pick up a single point. Carey would make the shot sending the Moose Jaw skip to the final frame with a two-point lead.
Barker went into the 10th with less than two minutes left on the time clock, but with an end focussed on peeling and running Carey out of rocks, it wasn’t an issue.
“We’ve been there before, it’s just ‘be ready in the hack and know what you’re going to throw’, and it worked out great,” Barker said.
Gamble made a runback takeout with her first shot to make the contest all but a formality, and after Carey drew the eight-foot with her final shot, Barker came down with a simple hit-and-stick to secure the 7-5 win and the Scotties title.
The Viterra Scotties championship is the second for Barker, after also winning in 2017 alongside third Deanna Doig, second Lorraine Schneider and Sicinski.
Barker will now represent Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national championship in Thunder Bay from Jan 28 through Feb. 6.
Moose Jaw’s Amber Holland and her Kronau rink of third Kim Schneider, second Karlee Korchinski and lead Deb Lozinski also reached the playoff round after qualifying through the C-side, defeating Robyn Silvernagle in the Page Playoff 3-4 game before falling 4-3 to Barker in a hard-fought battle in the semifinal.
Ashley Howard and her Saskatoon foursome also had a Moose Jaw connection, with Skylar Ackerman filling it at lead. They reached the C-final before falling 7-6 to Silvernagle.
