If it hasn't been one, it's been the other. One wins one year then the other sneaks in for a couple and then the whole starts up again next season. Jennifer Jones then Kelly Scott. Scott then Jones.
In a six-year span, one of them has been the Scotties Tournament of Hearts' champion, the queen of women's curling. The breakdown looks like this: Jones has won in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010; Scott has won in 2006 and 2007.
In fact, when Scott won in 2006, she claimed the crown by edging Jones in the final. These two just can't seem to avoid each other.
So it was that they met again, this time in Friday night's 1 vs. 2 playoff game at the 2012 Scotties. With the winner getting a clear path to Sunday's final, and the loser forced to work its way back, Scott's B.C. rink beat Jones' Manitoba rink by a 7-5 score.
"It feels so good," Scott afterwards. "It's right where we want to be ... We're embracing it. Our team came to play. They had their game faces on; very happy with our performance."
Scott and her teammates now get a day off. Jones will compete in Saturday's semi-final against the winner of the Quebec-Alberta showdown. Don't be surprised if fate and the stones align and it's Scott vs Jones yet again, this time for the 2012 title.
Friday's game was cautious and close until the fifth end. With B.C. ahead 3-2 and laying three, Jones attempted a tripe-takeout with her last rock. She only got one allowing B.C. to seal two and increase its lead to 5-2.
Jones closed to within one but her team's shot-making was off for much of the evening. While B.C. third Sasha Carter and second Dailene Siverston exchanged high fives for their efforts, Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes and Jill Officer did their share of grimacing over missed opportunities.
Trailing 6-4, Jones scored one in the ninth end.
In the 10th, with B.C. having the hammer, Scott coolly drew to the button to seal the outcome. She pumped her arms in the air and group-hugged her teammates.
Scott and Jones also met in round-robin play here with Manitoba stealing two in an extra end to defeat B.C. Scott followed that by winning her last three round-robin games.
The history between the skips dates back well before the Scotties. They competed as Manitoba juniors. In 1994, Jones won the provincial junior title. The following year Scott won it. From there, Scott moved to B.C. and became a world-class skip. Jones stayed in Winnipeg and did the same.
"We expect a close game against them because they always are," Jones had said prior to Friday's clash with B.C.