Katherine Doerksen had never played on a Sunday at the Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts, that is until this past weekend.

Doerksen, who got hooked on the sport at a young age after entering a Jam Can bonspiel in her hometown of Morden, played in a pair of games Sunday at the 2024 Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts along with her teammates skip Beth Peterson, third Kelsey Rocque and lead Melissa Kurz.

The Assiniboine Memorial foursome earned a spot in Sunday’s semifinal and avoided a Saturday night tiebreaker when Jolene Campbell lost 8-6 to Kristi Watling in the final Championship Round draw.

That result was huge for Team Peterson who lost tiebreakers to Abby Ackland in 2019 in Gimli and 2023 at East St. Paul.

Peterson, Rocque, Doerksen and Kurz defeated Kate Cameron of the Granite 8-4 Sunday morning and advanced to the team’s first ever Scotties final.

“It meant a lot to me and to all of us,” said Doerksen. “We started off our week having our sights set on Sunday. We really wanted to avoid that tiebreaker and get that monkey off our back. I’m just so proud of the girls. They really persevered through a loss in the round robin we weren’t expecting. Really worked through every single game to play our hearts out and get to the final day. We knew we had beat Cameron once and we could do it again, so we went into Sunday confident.”

Waiting for Team Peterson were top seed Kaitlyn Lawes, Selena Njegovan, Jocelyn Peterman and Kristin MacCuish who received a bye to the final thanks to their 7-1 first place record.

Team Peterson trailed 4-1 after three but rallied with dueces in the fourth, sixth and eighth ends to draw even at 7-7 playing the ninth.

Kaitlyn Lawes made a thin double for two with her last rock of nine to take a two-point lead coming home.

Beth Peterson’s last rock draw to the four-foot for two to force an extra end sailed too deep.

Team Lawes captured the 2024 Provincial Scotties with a 9-8 win.

“We started off a little bit shaky, but we found our comfort after the third end and really just zoned in on every single shot and focused on one shot at a time,” noted Doerksen. “I’m just so proud of the girls for battling back and clawing back the points there and getting to a tie game after eight. It came down to being a rock too deep. I’m so proud of the girls. I think all the work we put in this year really paid off.”

The 2024 Provincial Scotties at the Access Event Centre was an overwhelming success, and an emotional Katherine Doersken was so impressed with her hometown.

“It was amazing,” said Doerksen. “It meant so much me to be able to play here and to be able to have my support system so close to home and see so many familiar faces in the stands. The turnout was amazing, the volunteers were amazing, the ice crew, everyone – it was just a great event. It felt so special to be able to come home and play here and to make the final is even more special.”

“I think we’ve always known that we were right there to be able to get into Sunday and get into the final,” added Doerksen who played in the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in the bubble in Calgary as a wildcard with Beth Peterson, Jenna Loder and Brittany Tran. “I think what we did this week, was we really pulled it together and made sure we came together as a team. Make every shot, the four of us. Going forward I think it will just make us hungrier. We just want to get back to the Scotties so bad and that’s our dream.”