The juniors will push Olympic champion Jacobs to the limit in the provincial semifinals

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STONEWALL – The 20-year-old, up against a former Brier and Olympic champion, was inconsistent in the semifinals of the Manitoba men's curling championships on Sunday.

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It was far from it.

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Jordon McDonald's junior provincial championship team gave Brad Jacobs and Reid Carruthers their all at the Veterans Memorial Sports Complex in Stonewall.

Jacobs had to pull off a tough double kill with the final rock, scoring three goals to win 10-7 and advance to Sunday afternoon's final against Brayden Calvert.

“It was a battle,” Jacobs said. “I didn't know they had it in them. Thanks to them. This is a great team.”

Whenever the team threatened to leave Carruthers, Macdonald found a way to get back into the fray.

When the Cubs scored three runs in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead, a whiff of anxiety filled the arena.

But Carruthers went up on both sides, then forced MacDonald to ground out in the ninth, tying him with a hammer and coming home.

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MacDonald forced Jacobs to swing the hammer with precision that made his teammates on the ice proud.

“It's a shame we lost there, but we gave it our all,” said the skip. “To throw them the last stone, it's not an easy shot, proud of it.”

Not without the reigning Manitoba junior champion — who will defend his title later this month in Karman — he fired with the 2013 Ontario Olympic gold medalist and multiple Manitoba champion in Carruthers.

“It puts our confidence through the roof,” MacDonald said. “We know now that we can play with the best teams in the world. What helps is that we're probably on the losing end of that game, so maybe the pressure is off us a little bit.

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“It was a lot of fun.”

Backed by Dallas Burgess, Elias Huminicki and Cameron Olafson, McDonald's team will make another trip to the Junior National Championship.

“They play very smart,” Jacobs said. “They handle the rocks well. They talk well. They do everything a world-class junior team does. This team is probably playing beyond its years. You're starting to see that more with some of these young junior teams.”

As for the top seeds, Derek Samagalski and Connor Niegovan have the front edge, and Jacobs hopes this week's No. 3 seed will serve them well in the finals this afternoon against Calvert.

“One hundred percent,” Jacobs said. “You always choose the easy way over the hard way. But we've only played two games on this page so far. We'd all rather be playing than waiting to be played…that might give us a bit of a boost. A little confidence too.

“There's nothing wrong with making your last shot to win the game.”

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