Helen Hayes, James Davis, Jr., Michelle Cortez
James Davis, Jr. withstood a surging challenge from the one-loss side by Robert Clark to finish undefeated and complete his second straight Lone Star Tour victory on the weekend of March 27-28. The $1,000-added Open event drew 47 competitors to The Green Room in Temple, TX. Helen Hayes emerged as the winner in a concurrent, $350-added Ladies Tournament, which drew 25 to the same location.
In the Open event, from among the winners' side final four, Davis moved into the hot seat match with a 9-4 victory over Max Eberle. Noel Torres, in the meantime, got by Nash Peterson 9-3 to join Davis in the battle for the hot seat. Torres moved west to the semifinals when Davis gained the hot seat 9-6.
Meanwhile, Clark, who, after winning his first two matches had been sent to the one-loss side by Al Mason in the third round, was busy with a seven-match march back to the finals. With two down and five to go, he defeated Doug Young 7-3 and Eric Aicenena 7-1 for the right to face Eberle. Peterson faced Al Mason, who'd gotten by Eric Brown 7-4 and T.J. Davis 7-5 to meet him. Clark and Mason made Eberle and Peterson's journey on the one-loss side brief; Clark surviving a hill-hill battle versus Eberle, as Mason was busy dropping Peterson into the tie for fifth place 7-4. Clark got into the semifinals with a 7-4 win over Mason in the quarterfinals and then held on to win another hill-hill battle; this time versus Torres in the semifinals.
Clark put up a fight, but it wasn't enough to keep Davis, Jr. out of the winner's circle. The two battled back and forth, until Davis pulled out ahead by two to win it at 9-7.
In the Ladies event, Helen Hayes finished undefeated with a hill-hill win over Michelle Cortez, sinking the 9-ball on the final break in the finals. Heather Bryant finished in third place, following Cortez's hill-hill win in the semifinals. Kim Sanders finished fourth. Kim Pierce and Melinda Bailey shared the fifth spot to bring home $40 each.
