The Kesa Van Osch rink from Nanaimo sealed the sweet deal as far as advancing to the playoffs at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships at Napanee, Ont.

The Harbour City crew — Van Osch is backed by sisters Kalia and Marika Van Osch at third and second, respectively, and Brooklyn Leitch on lead with Jim Newlands coaching — is 8-3 and will meet either Jocelyn Peterman of Alberta or Shannon Birchard of Manitoba (both 9-2) in the semifinal Saturday after playing Emily Dwyer of Nova Scotia in today’s final round-robin game.

“We’re really excited and proud of how we’ve done,” said Kesa Van Osch, by phone from Napanee.

“We had a rough game against Manitoba [6-5 loss Thursday night in the 18th draw] but we match up well against them.”

Van Osch had clinched at least a top-three finish earlier Thursday after defeating the Kristen Streifel rink from Saskatchewan 9-7 in the 17th draw.

The top-three teams from each of the men’s and women’s standings advance to the playoff round, with the first-place team advancing directly to the final and the No. 2 and No. 3 teams meeting in the semifinal.

The TSN-televised national junior women’s final is at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday and the men’s at 4 p.m. Sunday.

“We’ll work on some stuff [today against Nova Scotia] and get ready to go,” said Van Osch.

“Then we’ll relax and get ready for Saturday.”

The B.C.-champion Josh Hozack rink from Victoria (1-10) dropped 5-3 and 6-5 decisions to Kyle Doering of Manitoba and Brady Scharback of Saskatchewan, respectively, in men’s action Thursday.

The Todd Troyer-coached Hozack rink — with Corey Chester shooting third, Nolan Reid second and Zachary Capron lead — will not make the playoffs and concludes play today against Stuart Thompson of Nova Scotia.

Brendan Bottcher of Alberta leads the men’s standings at 10-1.