Defending champion Homan, Alberta's Skrlik, B.C.'s Brown prep for playoffs at Scotties

Defending champion Rachel Homan carried an unbeaten record into the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs, while Alberta and B.C. locked in their playoff seedings Thursday.

Homan capped Pool A play with an 8-0 record after an 8-4 win over Alberta's Selena Sturmay.

Alberta's Kayla Skrlik and B.C.'s Corryn Brown both finished 6-2 with Skrlik ranked higher because of a win over Brown in the preliminary round.

Skrlik downed Nunavut's Julia Weagle 7-4 and Brown beat Prince Edward Island's Jane DiCarlo 9-2 in the final Pool A draw.

The top three teams in each pool advance to the championship round of six Friday when that half-dozen will battle for four Page playoff berths.

Sunday's winner at the Fort William Gardens represents Canada at the world championship March 15-23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea, and earns $100,000 in prize money.

Homan wanted her Ottawa Curling Club team to both finish pool play strong and continue scouting rock movement and ice behaviour heading into the next round.

"It was the opportunity to play on those middle sheets, learn the ice and the rocks, how we need to play moving forward," said Homan.

The top two seeds in each pool cross over and meet Friday afternoon with the winners moving onto Saturday's Page playoff between the top two seeds.

The losers take on the third seed in the opposite pool with those victors advancing to the Page playoff between the third and fourth seeds.

Skrlik skipped a slightly different lineup to a 4-4 record in her Hearts debut two years ago in Kamloops, B.C.

With Margot Flemming coming on board for this season at third, sister Ashton and Geri-Lynn Ramsay shifting positions and the latter holding the broom for Skrlik, the Garrison Curling Club foursome out of Calgary played 13