The focus of sports fans in the Battlefords this week was on Sydney, N.S. and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The North Battleford-based rink of Robyn Silvernagle was in action at the Scotties this week representing Saskatchewan.
Team Saskatchewan started with a nationally televised first game on TSN up against the defending champion Team Canada rink of Jennifer Jones on Saturday night.
That game was close throughout, with Silvernagle tying things up at 5-5 scoring two in the eighth. But the Jones team had the hammer, and scored one in the 10th for a 6-5 win.
Saskatchewan rebounded the following day with a 6-4 win over Andrea Crawford and New Brunswick. Afterwards, team members took to the phones for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation telethon to raise money for hospital equipment supporting neo-natal care units.
Monday action saw Silvernagle score two in the 10th to beat wild card Casey Scheidegger 8-6 in the morning, but their late game was a surprise as Kerry Galusha and the Northwest Territories won 9-4. The Territories scored three in the ninth to put the game out of reach. That dropped the Silvernagle rink into a three-way tie for fourth place in pool B at 2-2.
On Tuesday the Saskatchewan team took on the Kelli Sharpe team out of Newfoundland and Labrador and won 8-4, to move into a tie for third place in pool B at 3-2.
On Wednesday, they were scheduled to play Yukon and Prince Edward Island.
Throughout the Scotties, fans in North Battleford have been following the Silvernagle team and rooting them on.
“Go Team Sask! We’ll be cheering here at home,” read the tweet from North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater.
“Twin Rivers is and will continue to cheer on Team Silvernagle,” read the Facebook post from Twin Rivers Curling Club. “Toughest part of the schedule done (in our humble opinion).”
