Nedohin skips Team Kleibrink into Alberta Scotties playoffs

Heather Nedohin at the 2015 Players' Championship, her last event before taking a step back from competitive curling. (Anil Mungal)

Shannon Kleibrink’s team from Okotoks has advanced to the Jiffy Lube Alberta Scotties playoffs in St. Albert, Alta., after holding on in the extra end to edge Calgary’s Geri-Lynn Ramsay 7-6 Thursday night during the A final.

Two-time national champion Heather Nedohin subbed in at skip as Kleibrink, a four-time provincial winner and 2006 Olympic bronze medallist, is battling a back injury and has been in and out of the lineup during the event.

Team Kleibrink stole three points in the eighth end to grab a two-point lead. Ramsay settled for a single in the ninth and swiped one in the 10th to tie it and force the extra.

Ramsay drops to the B semifinals of the triple knockout preliminary round and will face recent Canadian Open winner Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, who slipped past Edmonton’s Holly Baird 5-4 during the evening draw.

Elsewhere, Calgary’s Nadine Chyz defeated Jodi Marthaller of Lethbridge 7-3 on the other side of the B bracket. Chyz meets Edmonton’s Val Sweeting after the three-time Alberta champion scored a 7-4 win over Kalynn Virtue of Lethbridge.

NOTES: Triple knockout preliminary action resumes Friday with one team from the B side and two from the C side joining Kleibrink in the page playoffs. … The winner will represent Alberta at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts running Feb. 18-26 in St. Catharines, Ont. … Calgary’s Chelsea Carey is not on hand to defend the title as her crew received the Team Canada auto-berth as the reigning national champions. … Watch live coverage of the Jiffy Lube Alberta Scotties Sunday on Sportsnet starting with the semifinal at 1 p.m. ET.

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