Cody Francis put up a fight in the finals of the Lucasi Hybrid New England 9-Ball Series stop on Sunday, January 29, but in the 'double hill' end, it was Mike Levett who chalked up the undefeated win. The handicapped event, with a total purse of $845, drew 36 entrants to Racks Billiards in Portland, ME.
They met first in the battle for the hot seat. Francis had sent Kristine Brown to the west bracket 7-2, as Levett was doing likewise to Jason D'Angelo 6-1. Levett came out strong again in the hot seat battle that followed. With Francis needing to reach seven games, Levett gave up only two racks in the 5-2 victory that left him in the hot seat.
Brown and D'Angelo moved to the loss side to pick up two opponents with stronger handicaps, and downed them both to advance to the quarterfinals. Brown took out Rich Britt 4-5, as D'Angelo was busy putting an end to Gareth Steele's day 4-7. It was Brown, with a 5-1 victory over D'Angelo, who advanced to the semifinals versus Francis.
Francis ended Brown's bid to get into the finals with a 7-2 victory and the finals re-match against Levett was on. Francis tripled his hot seat effort and at 4-6, forced an eleventh and final game. Levett prevailed to capture the event title.
