By Scott Roblin

Long path to Alberta Scotties championship for Scheidegger sisters

Jan 15, 2018 | 1:48 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Extra end elation for the Casey Scheidegger rink on Sunday night, winning their first Alberta Scotties title at the Medicine Hat Curling Club.

Stealing a point in the 11th end against Shannon Kleibrink’s rink from Okotoks to win 7-6, Scheidegger finished the tournament with a record of six wins and one loss.

Carolyn McRorie is in her second year of coaching the Scheidegger team, and said she had a simple message for her skip heading into the extra end.

“It was trying to get Casey [Scheidegger] to be confident in what she wanted to throw and make Shannon make her last rock.”

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It’s been a long road for the Scheidegger rink, coming short in all seven of their previous attempts to win the Alberta crest at provincials.

Having to go through the ‘B’ bracket to reach the finals as well, Casey said that adversity made Sunday’s victory even sweeter.

“I think that win itself just makes us feel a little more confident going into the Scotties, because we know Alberta is a really hard province to get out of.”

According to second Jessie Scheidegger, the missing ingredients for the team were third Cary-Anne McTaggart and lead Kristie Moore, who both brought much-needed experience to the team.

“For me and Casey, it was really good to feed off of them a lot and take their experience moving forward.”

Facing the Scheidegger twice over the course of the 2018 Alberta Scotties, Kleibrink said they have what it takes to challenge for a national title.

“They’re in the top 10 in the world right now for sure, and I think they’re going to be a contender in Penticton.”

Hailing from Lethbridge, the Scheidegger sisters were able to win their first Alberta Scotties championship in front of friends and family.

Jessie said it was a special atmosphere over the course of the tournament, which was made even better getting to curl with her older sister.

“We can be a little harder on each other, but we get over it a lot faster,” said Jessie. “I love her and I know that I wouldn’t have anybody else throwing last stone.”

Team Scheidegger will become Team Alberta on January 27, when they open the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts against Team Ontario.

A date that Casey has been thinking about since she picked up the sport as a young girl in southern Alberta.

“I’ve dreamt about this since I was a little girl when I started curling,” said Casey. “So, it’s just an unreal feeling because we accomplished a goal that has been a long time in the making.”