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MONTREAL -- A flu bug rampaging through the Scotties Tournament of Hearts did nothing to slow down Saskatchewan's Stefanie Lawton or a British Columbia squad that was missing its skip.
Lawton's rink (4-1), with second Sherri Singler and third Sherry Anderson out sick, had only three players on the ice but still posted an 8-4 victory over Quebec's Allison Ross (1-5) on Tuesday morning at Maurice Richard Arena.
Kesa Van Osch pulled out just before her match, but alternate Patti Knezevic stepped in as skip to lead B.C. (3-3) to a 7-3 win over Ontario's Allison Flaxey (1-4).
Canada improved to 5-0 as Rachel Homan's Ottawa rink downed Alberta's Val Sweeting (4-2) by 10-5 and Manitoba's Chelsea Carey (4-1) put up a 5-3 win over Newfoundland's Heather Strong (4-2).
The illness that put six players and some tournament officials out of action has generally lasted 24 hours or less. Most sick players were expected back Wednesday or even for draws later Tuesday.
Lawton got an early morning call from coach Rich Folk to say that Singler couldn't play, and later learned that Anderson was down as well.
"You plan for the worst, but this scenario of having two players out didn't come up, so we just had to go with it," said Lawton. "The girls jumped right in and felt comfortable with the positions they were thrown into."
Marliese Kasner moved up from lead to play third, while alternate Dailene Sivertson stepped in as the lone sweeper.
With three players, the first two throw three stones each, while the skip throws two.
"The girls did a great job," said Lawton. "It's different when you only have one sweeper.
"You want to give it a bit more so they don't have to work too hard, but we managed to pull through and come through with a win. The girls played great in positions they're not used to."
Kasner said she played third on Lawton's teams at the 2005 and 2009 Scotties, so it was a quick adjustment.
"It was different," she said. "We knew there would be just one sweeper so we joked that the second sweeper doesn't do much anyhow. We threw like we would in any other game and didn't think about having one less sweeper. We just went shot by shot."
A nervy moment came in the seventh end, when Lawton made a clever draw through three Quebec stones to prevent a steal.
Van Osch was on the ice practising before her match but found she wasn't well enough to play. Knezevic discovered she was playing two minutes before the lineup cards had to be handed in.
Before the Scotties, the Prince George, B.C., resident knew Van Osch's youthful Victoria rink only from playing against them. Agreeing to act as their alternate ended up giving Knezevic her first Scotties playing experience.
"They were looking for someone who could play any position and that could step in and throw skip stones," said Knezevic, who skipped B.C.'s junior team to a silver medal in 1993. "It was great and the girls played really well.
"Once they asked me I did my homework and studied a few of their games, so I knew their game plan and I could call what they're used to."
Quebec was missing second Brittany O'Rourke, Ontario was without second Lynn Keviazuk and Canada didn't have alternate Stephanie LeDrew on its bench.
It was not known if any would be back for afternoon or evening draws later Tuesday.
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