by Lea Andrews

A big obstacle—Southern superstar Sam Monday—stood in Mike Basha’s way at the February 27-28 Great Southern Billiard Tour stop, but Basha stood his ground to earn his spot in the winner’s circle. Basha and Monday were among the field of 51 that gathered at Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar in Goldsboro, NC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event.

B-ranked Basha got past fellow B-player Justin Ward to reach the hot seat match against B-ranked Tony Williams, who’d managed to fend off Monday, who was racing to 11, 7-9. Taking care of Williams 7-2, Basha claimed the hot seat, while Williams took his spot in the semifinals.

On the left side of the bracket, B-ranked Rick Royster made his way past B-ranked Bobby Hicks 7-6 to face recent winner Tony Morrison, who’d ousted A-player Zach Wilson 9-6. After easing past Morrison 7-7, Royster moved on to Ward. Meanwhile, AA-ranked Sparky Ferrell blew through A-ranked “Pokey” 11-1 to meet up with Larry Faulk, who’d breezed by fellow A-player Montez Lloyd 9-3. Ferrell edged out Faulk hill-hill 11-8, but that score got flipped on him by Monday, and he landed in fifth. Monday advanced to the quarterfinals against Royster, who’d squeaked past Ward 7-6, and looking for the rematch with Williams in the semifinals, Monday put Royster in fourth 11-5. Against Williams, Monday more than made up for the last match, earning his spot in the finals 11-2.

In the first set of the true double-elimination final match, Basha reached the hill first, but Monday took the next two racks to make it hill-hill 10-6. His break and run in the final rack pushed the second set, which he opened with another break and run. Allowing Basha few chances at the table, Monday stretched his lead to 5-0, but after topping a safety battle, Basha got on the board, and he took advantage of some unlikely opportunities in the next racks to keep it close at 7-3. He made it 7-4 with a 3-9 carom and 7-5 with a 4-9 combination, but Monday took three in a row to reach the hill. In the alternate-break format, Basha broke open the next rack, putting more into his final break than he’d put into others in the set, but his reward was a cue ball on the floor and what looked like no more chances at the table. The ultimate reward came late, though, as Monday missed what was, for him, a routine shot on the 6 ball, allowing Basha back at the table to make it hill-hill. It was Monday’s turn to break, and after making a delicate cut on the 1 ball, he found himself bridging behind the 8 ball for a shot on the 2. He overcut it and Basha pocketed it instead, and though he was faced with tough position on the 4, a thin cut all the way down the rail put the 4 in the pocket and the cue ball in position for the 5. Basha’s win was just a matter of staying in line, and he pocketed the rest of the balls to notch his first GSBT victory 7-10.

The next $1,500-added stop will be at Raising Cain’s in Inman, SC, March 6-7.

Basha and Monday were among the field of 51 that gathered at Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar in Goldsboro, NC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event.

1st Mike Basha $1,000
2nd Sam Monday $500
3rd Tony Williams $300
4th Rick Royster $200
5th Justin Ward $100
Sparky Ferrell
7th Tony Morrison $70
Larry Faulk
9th Bobby Hicks $40
Zach Wilson
Montez Lloyd
“Pokey”

by Skip Maloney

Keith Bennett held off a one-loss side challenge from Sam Monday to take first place in the open portion of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour on the weekend of April 17-19. The $1,000-added event drew 26 entrants to Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar in Goldsboro, NC.

Bennett first faced Monday on Sunday among the winners’ side final four, defeating him 7-2 to get into a hot seat match versus Larry Pierce, who’d just sent 17-year-old D.J. Outlaw west by the same score. Bennett sent Pierce to the one-loss side 7-1 and waited for Monday’s return.

Over on the one-loss side, Phillip Richardson and Russell Sasser lay in wait for Monday and Outlaw. A hill-hill victory for Outlaw over Richardson advanced the teenager into the quarterfinals against Monday. Monday, who worked his way back to the finals while giving up only 3 racks in 24 games, shut Sasser out and sent Outlaw to join his hometown friends with a 7-2 win. A 7-1 victory over Pierce in the semifinals sent Monday back for a second match-up versus Bennett with momentum on his side.

Bennett, who’d given up only three racks himself in the two matches that had left him in the hot seat, was not to be denied, however. The two battled back and forth in the race-to-9 finals, with Bennett ahead by only one when he reached the hill. Bennett made it two in a row and completed his undefeated weekend.

Richardson emerged as the winner of the 13-entrant early bird tournament, defeating Russell Sasser 7-2 in the finals of that event. It was Delton Howard over Sasser in the hill-hill final of the 11-entrant, second chance tournament on Sunday. Justin Ward bested Patrick Pipkin in the finals of the five-entrant juniors event and qualified for the junior nationals in the 18+ division. Also qualifying for the junior nationals was Patrick Sasser in the 14-and-under division. Two women—Belinda Calhoun and Karen Webb—competed in a single race to 7 in a ladies’ tournament, won by Calhoun 7-2.

Keith Bennett held off a one-loss side challenge from Sam Monday to take first place in the open portion of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour on the weekend of April 17-19.

Open Results:
1st Keith Bennett $1,000
2nd Sam Monday $500
3rd Larry Pierce $300
4th D.J. Outlaw $150
5th Phillip Richardson $100
Russell Sasser
7th Larry Pittman $75
Mike Davis
9th Michael Whisnant
Mac Harrell
Cary Dunn
Younger Chapman

Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Greensboro, NC
Mike Fuller worked his way through a field of 40 entrants on the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour stop at Fast Eddie’s in Goldsboro, NC, the weekend of April 26-27. He sent Larry Faulk to the one-loss side of the bracket with a decisive shut-out in the round of 8 and defeated him again in the finals to capture the first-place prize.

Larry Faulk worked his way through two opponents on the west side before meeting Arnold Hamlet in the quarterfinals. He won all but 5 of the next 19 games, dropping 2 versus Hamlet and 3 against Liu in the semifinal.

The final match-up was something of a waltz, played out three steps at a time. Fuller and Faulk danced their way one game at a time to a 3-3 tie before Fuller decided that he wanted to lead the dance and jumped out 6-3. Faulk responded with his own three steps and tied it at 6-6, but it was Fuller who brought the waltz to a three-step finale to finish the dance.

The tour stop also featured a Friday night early bird tournament with 9 entrants, a second chance tournament Sunday with 11, and a small junior tournament with 3 entrants. Cary Dunn took the early bird, defeating Wade Crane, with Michael Fuller in third place. Mike Triplett defeated Shane Barnwell 7-1 to take the second chance first prize; Peaches Fuller and Charlie Brinson took third and fourth place, respectively. Justin Ward defeated Tiffany Leonard in the finals of the three-player junior tournament, taking the lead in points for the race to qualification to the Junior Nationals.

Results
1st Michael Fuller
2nd Larry Faulk
3rd Qi Liu
4th Arnold Hamlet
5th Younger Chapman
Wade Crane
7th Sidney Champion
Chris Vollmar
9th Cary Dunn
Mike Frowein
Charles McClung
John Hernandez

by InsidePOOL Staff
Michael Fuller held off young gun Shane Winters in the final match of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour’s December 8-9 stop. Hosted by Fast Eddie’s in Goldsboro, NC, this stop drew a field of 24 players for the $1,000-added main event.
To kick things off, an early bird tournament was held on Friday night, in which Mike Danner defeated Charles Jones 7-4 in the final match. In the junior tournament on Sunday, Mac Harrell defeated Justin Ward 7-1 in the final match. Junior players score points, which accumulate for the first ten events on the tour. The top point winners in each division will qualify for the 2008 Junior Nationals. Also on Sunday, a second-chance tournament was won by Dave Gray, who took a 7-6 win over Cary Dunn.
In the main event, Michael Fuller survived a close match against Sam Monday 7-5 before being sent to the one-loss side by Winters 7-3. Winters, having already defeated Wade Crane 7-5, continued his march to the hot seat with wins over Larry Faulk 7-5 and Peaches Fuller 7-3.
Meanwhile, Michael Fuller put together a run through the one-loss side by defeating Monday 7-5, Younger Chapman 7-1, Montez Lloyd 7-1, Charles Jones 7-3, and Peaches Fuller 7-6 to earn a rematch with Winters.
The final match was a single race to 9. Fuller took an early 4-1and then a 6-2 lead, at which point Winters got a break when Fuller fouled. Winters cleared the table and then broke and ran out the next rack. Feeling the momentum, Winters sank two balls on the break, but his hopes were dashed when the cue ball found the side pocket. Fuller took ball in hand and ran out for a 7-4 lead.
Fuller left himself bad shape and hung the 8 ball in the corner to keep Winters’ hopes alive. Winters made the last two balls to make the score 8-6. Although finally avoiding a scratch on the break, Winters was left with a difficult cut on the 1 ball. He decided to go for it and ultimately lost control of the table. Fuller finished the rack to win the match 9-6.

by Rock City Promotions
Pastime Billiards and Pub of Kinston, NC, hosted the second stop on the 2007-2008 Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour November 17-18, drawing a field of 27 players for the main event. Mike Davis took first place over Cary Dunn, earning $1,000, plus entry into the 2008 Carolina Open, courtesy of Fast Eddie’s in Goldsboro, NC.
The weekend began with an early bird tournament on Friday night. Younger Chapman defeated Terry Champion 7-1 in the final match. The junior tournament Sunday saw Mac Harrell besting Justin Ward 7-5 in the final match. Junior players score points that accumulate for the first 10 events on the tour, and the top point winners in each division will qualify for the 2008 Junior Nationals.
Also on Sunday, a second-chance tournament was won by Larry Faulk. Faulk finished 7-2 over Mac Harrell, who squandered chances on three 9 balls.

In the main event, Davis had a relatively smooth road to the hot seat, defeating Joe Hawkins 7-3, Wayne Sutton 7-2, Charles Jones 7-5, Paul Mullins 7-2, and Dunn 7-4.
Dunn struggled early with David Brown but emerged the winner in a hill-hill match. After making quick work of Ty Bissett 7-1 and Eddie Little 7-2, Dunn headed west after his loss to Davis. Dunn earned his rematch with Davis by defeating Mullins, who was the underdog of the tournament.
The final match—a single race to 9—started out with unforced errors and missed opportunities on the part of both players. Snookered and down 3-1, Dunn made a good hit on the 1 ball and left Davis safe. Davis made a good hit, but Dunn ran out nevertheless.
Rack seven proved to be the turning point. After making the 7 ball on the break, Davis made the 1 and 2, then played a safety on the 3 ball. Rewarded with ball in hand, Davis ran out. Davis stretched his lead to 8-2, thanks to a 9 ball on the break and back-to-back break and runs.
Dunn’s last chance was in the eleventh rack. After an empty break by Davis, Dunn made the 1 ball and missed a desperate 2/9 combination. Davis missed a 7 ball late in the rack, but a fortunate roll left Dunn snookered. Davis won the final game and the match 9-2.
Results:
1st Mike Davis
2nd Cary Dunn
3rd Paul Mullins
4th Eddie Little
5th Younger Chapman
Sidney Champion
7thLarry Faulk
Terry Champion