Allison Fisher
Kelly and Allison Fisher were at it again on the weekend of October 16-17. For the second week in a row on the KWIKFIRE tour, the two went head to head, though on this weekend, it was Allison sitting in the hot seat, looking to finish undefeated, which she did. On the previous weekend, the Fishers battled among the winners' side final eight and Allison went west, where she was eventually stopped by Lisa Davids. Kelly went on to win, undefeated. On this weekend, it was Kelly moving west from among the winners' side final eight, sent there by tour director Kim Shaw, but she battled back to the finals. The $2,000-added event drew 16 entrants to Family Billiards in Boone, NC.
Allison's appearance among the winners' side final four followed a match in which she scored some week-old revenge by sending Davids to the one-loss side. She followed that up by sending Shaw over 9-7. Buffy Jolie, in the meantime, defeated Leslie Furr 7-4 to meet Allison in the hot seat match. Allison gained the hot seat with a 9-3 win and waited for the other Fisher to return.
On the one-loss side, Kelly and Shaw were headed for a second showdown in the quarterfinals. After a shutout over Kristen Malone, and a 9-2 win over Kristi Carter, Kelly picked up Furr. Carter has been at the helm of the KWIKFIRE tour, assisted by Shaw, since it began two years ago. On hiatus from professional touring herself, Carter signed on to play this weekend to help with the completion of a 16-player bracket and had defeated Lisa Davids 7-2 to reach Kelly. Waiting for Shaw in the west bracket was Katie Cowan, who'd gotten by Lisa Cossette 7-3 and Holly Sholes 7-5 to reach her.
Kelly dropped Furr into the tie for fifth place 9-2, as Shaw battled to double hill, before prevailing over Cowan. The second showdown was at hand. Kelly and Shaw battled back and forth, but it was Kelly hanging on to win, ahead by two at 9-7. Kelly now faced Buffy Jolie in a semifinal match that gave Jolie a two-game handicap; Jolie needed to reach 7 before Kelly reached 9. Jolie put up a terrific fight, forcing a single game to win at 8-6. Kelly won that single game and the Fisher-Fisher match was on.
Allison, who was reportedly ‘on her game' all weekend, pretty much stoppEd Kelly cold. She won the final matchup 9-3 to finish undefeated. Allison added $75 to her winnings by taking the victory in the event's Break and Run Contest.
Holly Sholes won $90 as the winner of the event's 7-entrant Second Chance tournament on Sunday, defeating Gina Mashburn 5-1 in the finals. It was the last KWIKFIRE Tour stop for Kim Shaw, who will be returning to England. The tour will continue to be under the direction of Kristi Carter, who will now be assisted by Lindsay Gebel. The new tour directors offered special thanks to the owners of Family Billiards, Chris and Sandra Aldridge, for their support of the tour stop.
