Jason Brown
It was another outstanding Lone Star event held at the ever so accommodating Slick Willie's Family Pool Hall on Westheimer @ Dairy Ashford in beautiful Houston, Texas. All in all there were 66 entrants in four divisions who played for over $5,000 in prize money. Among the Open 10-Ball and One Pocket Divisions were Jason Brown, Andy Jethwa, David Gutierrez, Nick Hood, Marc Garza, and Charlie Bryant along with touring regulars Rodney Stewart, Will Felder, Kerry Ganther and Grady Cooper, just to name a few.
Saturday's first 3 rounds of play yielded a new look for the winners' side with APA Champion Don Bullard v. Grady Cooper, Alex Cardenas v. North Carolina's Jason Brown, Danny Lee v. Andy Jethwa and Victor “Champion” Rojas v. David Gutierrez. Charlie Bryant found himself in unfamiliar territory when he was eliminated on Saturday by Brown 9-6 and Marc Garza 7-4. On Sunday, Garza, Sonny Bosshamer, Blaine Barcus and Rodney Stewart waited in the wings while the east side produced Bullard v. Brown, and Lee v. Rojas. Jethwa, Gutierrez, and Cardenas advanced on the left along with Barcus who was the only one of the original four who made it another round. On the east side, Bullard fell to Brown 9-3 and Lee bested Rojas 9-5. Ultimately it was Jethwa v. Gutierrez and Barcus v. Cardenas on the west side. Gutierrez bested Jethwa then Bullard to reach Rojas who was on a streak of his own. Rojas sent Gutierrez west earlier 9-8 but Gutierrez exacted his revenge 7-1. Meanwhile Jason Brown's determination landed him in the hot seat 9-4 over Lee. Gutierrez made quick work of Lee but fell in the final to the undefeated Brown 9-5.
There were 12 ladies who appeared in full force on Sunday. Tournament hopefuls included, Ricki Casper, Tisha Hay, Robyn Petrosino, Yvette Reyes, and former pros Deanna Kniola and Ming Ng. It was Ng over Kniola 7-6 for the hot seat and on the west side, Belinda Lee over Casper. Kniola finished a respectable third while Ng took down Lee in the final 7-3.
Congratulations to David Gutierrez who captured the One Pocket event and Robyn Petrosino who won the 17 and under Juniors event.
LSBT extends many thanks to its sponsors; Poison Cues, Delta-13 Rack, PoolWebsites.com, LeagueShirts.com, and Barnett Ranching.
The next event will be held at Crazy 8's Family Pool Hall in Port Arthur, Texas October 16th-17th.
