The Scott Saunders team from Halifax scored three in the seventh end to win by an 8-5 score over Summerside native Rod MacDonald and his Charlottetown Curling Complex rink in the final of the Journal Pioneer Cashspiel at the Silver Fox this afternoon. Other members of the Saunders rink, who are the 2011 Nova Scotia Senior curling champs, are Bruce Lohnes, Kirk Palmer, Alan Darrach and 5th player Glen Josephson. John Likely, Mark O’Rourke and Peter MacDonald round out the MacDonald team.

Photo: Scott Saunders

Saunders led 4-3 after four ends of the eight-end final, and took another single in the fifth. MacDonald tied it up with a deuce in the sixth, but then Saunders took the triple in the seventh, and ran MacDonald out of rocks in the final end.

In this morning’s semi-finals, MacDonald shaded Charlottetown clubmate Robert Shaw 7-6, while Saunders doubled the Charlottetown rink skipped by Jamie Newson, by a 6-3 score to advance to the final. In the semis, Saunders took a triple in the second end, and stole singles in ends six and seven, while MacDonald’s second-end three-pointer game him an early 3-1 advantage in his game.

The Consolation final was played Saturday evening, with Anthony Purcell and his Halifax rink which includes Summerside native Neil Gallant at second, trouncing Charlottetown’s Blair Weeks squad by a 12-4 score, taking six of those points in the seventh end.

The Saunders team will receive $1800, with $1200 going to the runner-up MacDonald squad, $900 going to the remaining semi-finalists, Shaw and Newson, and $600 going to the Anthony Purcell rink as Consolation winners.

Full linescores are available at  www.silverfox-pei.com/curling/

12 teams, from all three Maritime provinces, took part in this year’s cashspiel.