her. "You do that against a high-level quality team like Portland,

KITCHENER, Ont. -- Val Sweeting of Edmonton and Brier champion Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie claimed the final two spots at the Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials next month in Winnipeg. Jacobs used a three-point fifth end to propel himself out of 3-2 hole against 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue and earn a 7-5 win at the Capital One Road to the Roar pre-trial on Sunday. On the womens side, Sweeting, holding the hammer in the 10th end, needed a draw to the four-foot ring with her final shot and was on the mark for a 6-4 win against two-time Canadian womens champion Kelly Scott of Kelowna, B.C. Scott was ready to score two, but Sweeting made the same shot she missed in the ninth end, which gave Scott a steal of one point to make it 5-4. "I knew what too heavy felt like so I obviously didnt want to throw the same thing," Sweeting said. "We have the best sweepers there and I knew just throw it close and they would judge it, and thats exactly what happened." Scott, however, seemed to have the final end set up with the way she wanted it, making Sweeting attempt a shot she had already failed. "We wanted her to shoot against a couple and probably have her draw. She hadnt drawn in a while," said Scott, who gave up five straight points to Sweeting, including three in the sixth. "But they made every tick, every peel. They didnt give us much to work with, so that was probably best case." Scott admitted that her rink of Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter and Sarah Wazney didnt seem to recover from the two days off that came with having a perfect 4-0 record. She was never on the mark in Saturdays A-final against Renee Sonnenberg and couldnt build on a 2-0 lead against Sweeting after two ends. "We just didnt bring our best the last two games," she said. "(We were) just chasing a little and never really had our ends set up, and never really dictated the play out there." Sweeting, who was in a rush to catch a plane out of town, has booked her ticket to Winnipeg as probably the most unknown commodity going into the eight-team trials. "Im very excited. Were really happy that all the hard work has all paid off," Sweeting said of her team of Dana Ferguson, Joanne Courtney and Rachelle Pidherny. "We played well here and were going to look at what we need to keep doing and what we can do better to succeed there." Jacobs and his squad of Ryan Fry, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden will join Sweeting in Winnipeg. Through an oft-questioned point system, Jacobs had to go to the pre-trials instead of getting a bye to trials. "We didnt make it directly in and we had to do this the hard way, and I think being defending Brier champions it wouldnt be right if we werent there, if you think about it," Jacobs said. His opponent agreed. "Looking back on it, Brad Jacobs deserves to be in the Olympic trials," said Gushue. "You know, if anybody was going to beat us and go there, its good that they did. As Canadian champions, they should be in the trials in my opinion. They shouldnt have had to play this game." Despite losing his 3-2 lead in the fifth end, Gushue and his crew of Brett Gallant, Adam Casey and Geoff Walker kept plugging away and kept the score close, including a steal of a point in the ninth end to make it 5-4. Thoughts of tying the game seemed to get dashed though when Caseys stone caught some debris on the ice just as he let go of it and kicked away. "Its just the luck of it," Gushue said. "He made an absolute honey of a shot on his first and if we get that second guard up and played something with their top reds earlier, we had a chance to steal two. It just sucks. In the last end to see something like that, it was unfortunate." Jacobs, though, put himself in a good position to win by playing more aggressive than he did in the A-final against John Morris. "We played a lot better today," Jacobs said. "The end that we got three, the fifth end, when E.J. made the run back and the perfect hit and roll, I thought to myself, OK, thats what we needed to get back to who we are on the ice. So we really credit E.J. for making those two shots and getting us back on track." So now Jacobs will have to take that aggression out west when he faces Jeff Stoughton in his first match at the trials in Stoughtons hometown. "Ya, I guess hes going to be pretty nervous," Jacobs joked. Matthew Dellavedova Jersey .J. Ward appeared in court Friday on misdemeanour charges that he threw a glass mug at a bartender at a Denver strip club. Greg Monroe Jersey . - While he appreciates suggestions from Packers fans of remedies for his sore left calf, Aaron Rodgers is not necessarily going to listen to the advice. http://www.nbabucksproshop.com/Authentic...Bucks-Jersey/.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. Jabari Parker Jersey .C. -- Ryan Sproul scored the winner late in double overtime to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Friday in Game 1 of their American Hockey League playoff series. Giannis Antetokounmpo Jersey . - The Seattle Seahawks have signed nine players to 2014 future contracts, including quarterback B. DALLAS -- The Portland Trail Blazers no longer are chasing the San Antonio Spurs in the NBAs Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 12 rebounds, and the Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks 127-111 on Saturday night to pull even with the Spurs at 31-9. The Trail Blazers have won five consecutive games, including a 109-100 victory at San Antonio on Friday. "I was really proud of the way our team played, especially on the heels of an emotional win in San Antonio," coach Terry Stotts said. "Our resolve, defensively, I thought was very good and got us into a position to have a large lead." The lead reached 38 points at 111-73 with 9:43 to play. A 25-2 surge against Portlands bench brought Dallas within 15 points with 4:38 remaining before the starters returned to restore order. The Trail Blazers, the NBAs highest-scoring team, reached 30 points in the first quarter for the 14th time in 2013-14, and 100 points in three quarters for the fourth time. "We are just playing great basketball right now," Aldridge said. "Whenever guys guard the way they can, this team is good." Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 18 points in 21 minutes. All five Portland starters scored in double figures, and Aldridge, Robin Lopez and Damian Lillard (14 points, 10 assists) each recorded a double-double. "The first three quarters were beyond embarrassing," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We were poor on offence, too. We werent playing together. We werent helping each other. "You do that against a high-level quality team like Portland, theyre going to make you pay a heavy price." Portland outrebounded Dallas 55-30, scored 60 points in the paint and had 22 second-chance points. Nicolas Batum shot 6 for 7 and scored 15 of his 21 points in the first quarter as the Trail Blazers opened a 35-23 lead. "They were double-teaming LaMarcus," Batum said, "so the other four guys around him moved around to get open. Were a shooting team." Portland shot 51 per cent (46 for 90) for the game, including 59 per cent (26 for 44) for a 71-52 halftime lead. The Trail Blazers defence also was superb, holding the Mavericks to 39 per cent shooting (26 for 66) while running up a 104-70 lead after three quarters. Portland had 30 fast-break points to Dallas 5. "Theyre obviously a tough team to defend,&qquot; Nowitzki said.dddddddddddd "They have LaMarcus on the block and they have shooters out there. They really got whatever they wanted for three quarters and they were very good." Carlisle found a silver lining in the fourth quarter, when the Mavericks outscored the Trail Blazers 41-23. "The guys that were in there in the fourth quarter really fought," he said. "Im going to find guys that will fight and get them in the game, simple as that." Jae Crowder scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter, and DeJuan Blair had 11 of his 13. The Mavericks Devin Harris played 17 minutes and scored six points in his first game this season following toe surgery. Harris played the first 3 1/2 of his 10 NBA seasons with Dallas, and re-signed with the team last summer, but missed the first 41 games. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter. Harris missed his first two free throws, but hit a long 2-point field goal at the buzzer later in the quarter. "I actually like what I saw," Nowitzki said. "Were looking forward to getting him out there more and more and playing at a high level." Portlands lead grew to 18 in the second quarter, but the Mavericks battled back within 54-46 with an 18-8 run. With the Trail Blazers starting lineup back in the game, they scored 17 of the final 23 points in the second quarter. Aldridge and Batum each had 17 first-half points. The third quarter also started well for Portland, which quickly stretched its advantage to 83-58. NOTES: Dallas Shawn Marion made his 1,000th NBA start. . The Trail Blazers are just 8-6 when they have scored 30-plus points in the first quarter, but theyre 4-0 when reaching 100 in just three quarters. They entered the night averaging 109.1 points per game. ... The Mavericks reassigned rookie guard Ricky Ledo to Texas of the NBA Development League. He has played in only nine games for Dallas, averaging 3.3 minutes and 1.9 points. ... Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $100,000 for confronting officials on the court and using inappropriate language after Wednesdays game against the Clippers in Los Angeles. ... When asked what knowledge Stotts had gained after Portland won only 33 games last season, Carlisle joked about his former assistant, "You mean other than what he stole here?" 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