Allgemeines » in her second Scotties. "To be one game aw

MONTREAL -- Val Sweeting could not hide the excitement of reaching her first final at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The Alberta skip made an open draw to the button on the final stone of an extra end to defeat Manitobas Chelsea Carey 6-5 in the semifinal on Saturday night. Sweeting will face defending champion Rachel Homans Canada squad in the final on Sunday night. "Its huge," said Sweeting, who is playing in her second Scotties. "To be one game away from a dream come true like that, it feels really good." It wont be easy. Homan is 12-0 in the tournament, including a 10-5 win over Alberta on Tuesday in the round robin. "Its going to be a good game -- close with lots of rocks in play," said Sweeting. "Well try to get them drawing and hope the angles are in our favour. Theyre really good at the high, hard ones, so we have to watch out where our rocks are." Alberta third Joanne Courtney said the key is to keep Homans team from pulling out the three-or-four point ends they have used to roll over most opponents in the tournament. "You cant afford to miss too many against them,"said Courtney. "Theyve scored a lot of big ends this week, so we have to be careful when they have hammer with what we leave around. "Theyre really good at weight. Sometimes you think you put it in the right spot and they make a triple or something." Courtney put her second shot straight through the house in the extra end, but Carey was unable to make her pay for the error. "I knew shed want that one back, but the button was still open and, as a skip, thats all you want," said Sweeting. Sweeting, who finished fourth in the round-robin portion of the tournament, got to the semifinal with an 8-7 victory Saturday morning over Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton. Carey, who will play in the bronze medal game against Lawton, was dismayed at a spotty performance. "Its terrible, it sucks," she said, lamenting too many missed shots. "There were a bunch throughout the game. "We fought the inch a bit. We played a great game (Friday against Homan) and didnt win, and played a not-great game today and didnt win. Its just not our week, I guess." Manitoba emerged from the first five ends with a 2-1 lead, but neither team looked sharp. After the break, Sweeting hit for two in the sixth to take the lead, then got another in the seventh when Careys draw to the button ran long. The next end, it was Sweeting who went long on a draw and Carey was able to score two. Then Sweeting was a tad heavy on a hit in a bid for two and had to settle for one. She took a 5-4 lead, but gave Carey the hammer going into the 10th. Carey left a draw short on her first rock, then drew for one to send it to an extra end. In the third-versus fourth game, Lawton left draws well short in the seventh and eighth ends to allow Alberta to steal five points en route to an 8-7 victory. The missed shots left her squad down 8-3 with two ends to play. They closed the gap at the end but the outcome was not in doubt. The Saskatchewan skip looked devastated. "I had great draw weight at the beginning of the game and I just seemed to lose it after the sixth end," the Saskatoon resident said. "Just two tough draws and I couldnt make it for the girls and I feel not so good about that." Saskatchewan looked to have taken control with a steal of one in the fifth for a 3-1 lead, but things went south after the break. Lawton missed a double takeout that gave Sweeting an easy two to tie it in the sixth. Then Lawton left a draw short to give Alberta a steal of two in the seventh for its first lead of the game. A crisp Sweeting double takeout in the eight left a crowd of Alberta stones in the house. Lawton tried to draw into them but a groan went up from the grandstands as she left it short again for a steal of three. She rebounded with two in the ninth and Sweetings rink played with fire in the 10th by letting Saskatchewan put stones in the house. But a Sweeting takeout with the last stone sealed the victory despite Saskatchewans steal of two. "The ice was great," said Lawton. "It was a little keener and straighter but nothing we couldnt adjust to. "It was just a matter of making better shots." Now she hopes to salvage something by taking third place. "Were going to come out and play for that bronze medal because wed be very proud to win that one," she said. It is Lawtons third Scotties after appearances in 2005 and 2009, and all three times she lost in the 3-versus-4 game. She finished third in round-robin play at 8-3 but lost to Yukon (2-9) in her last game Friday. Fourth-place Sweeting had lost 8-6 to Lawton in the round robin. Discount Shoes Online . Players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that years post-season. In addition, discipline will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban. Wholesale Shoes China .com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. http://www.discountshoescheap.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Wholesale Shoes Near Me . - Gary Kubiak is John Elways No. Cheap Shoes USA . Unfortunately for the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Harden was in the building.Sir Ian Botham says James Vince must play for England in Thursdays first Investec Test against Sri Lanka. The Hampshire captain is in line to make his long-awaited Test debut at Headingley having staked his claim with some excellent performances in Englands Lions and one-day squads.Vince bats at No 3 for his county, a position currently held in the England side by Middlesexs Nick Compton, but could come straight in at No 5 following James Taylors early retirement. The 25-year-old caught the eye with a brilliant century against Yorkshire at Leeds two weeks ago and Botham believes he could get his chance in his preferred position of first wicket down.Vince must play, and could bat at three but it depends on how they (the selectors) want to go and if they stick with Compton, said Botham. Hes been knocking on the door for a while, hes been in great form and deserves his chance. James Vince could make his debut when England play Sri Lanka in the 1st Test at Headingley. Id bat him at three, Joe Root at four and Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes at five and six, but they may place trust in their bowlers and decide to go for an extra batsman, well just have to see.The England legend does not expect a repeat of Sri Lankas series win against England two years ago and is tipping Alastair Cooks side to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.Botham added: England should win the series comfortably. They played well in the winter and should be far too strong for this inexperienced Sri Lanka side. We take a look back at the England v Sri Lanka Test series for 2014, where there was heartbreak for James Anderson.dddddddddddd The weather could have a say, I know rain is forecast for Headingley, but I still think they will win 3-0.Captain Cook heads into the match 36 runs shy of becoming the first Englishman to score 10,000 Test runs and Botham is confident the in-form opener will achieve the landmark early in the series.Hell get there and can go on and get another 3,000 Test runs, it just depends how long he wants to keep going, added Botham, who has picked Cook at 9/4 to be Englands leading run scorer in the series, one of his Beefys Bets. Beefys Bets Beefys backing Jonny Bairstow to top score in the 1st inns at Headingley at 8/1 with Sky Bet The former England skipper is also putting his money behind Englands record-breaking bowler Jimmy Anderson to be Englands top wicket-taker in both the first Test and the Series at 9/4 and 5/2 respectively with Sky Bet.Jimmy has been bowling really well for Lancashire. Hes played more matches than the other bowlers, hes fit and is the man to follow, he added.Watch England and Sri Lankas first Investec Test, at Headingley, from 10am, Thursday, Sky Sports 2. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. Get Sky Sports Alerts Breaking news from the England Cricket team, direct to your mobile Also See: England v Sri Lanka on Sky Sports Jayawardene: Great challenge for SL Bumbles Blog The 10,000 run club ' ' '