Jones Jumps Ahead of the Field
Great Southern Billiard Tour / Montgomery, AL
by Lea Andrews
Although Jason Jones didn’t close out the win in the first set of the finals, fortunately for the Montgomery native, there was no déjà vu, as he handily took the second set. The $1,500-added Great Southern Billiard Tour’s Alabama Amateur, hosted by Déjà Vu Billiards in Montgomery, AL, drew 25 competitors the weekend of June 20-21.
A-ranked Jones made his way through Jonathan Tedder 9-3 and Adam Towery 9-5 before facing AA-ranked Benny “Goose” Conway, Jr. in the winners’ side final four. After sending Conway west with a score of 9-6, it was time for him to meet up in the match for the hot seat with B-ranked Morty Davis, who’d just cruised past John Maikke 7-4.
Davis reached his hill first, and though Jones still needed four games, Davis watched his lead diminish as Jones won game after game until it was hill-hill at 8-6. Jones broke the final rack and Davis could do nothing but watch as Jones ran to an 8-9 winning combination.
On the one-loss side, A-ranked Daniel “Lil D” McKinney got past Randy Jordan 9-6 and Maikke 9-6 to face Conway, who’d put Shane Winters in fifth with a score of 10-6. McKinney seemed set to take the hill-hill match, but his scratch on the 8 ball in the final rack sent Conway on to the one-loss semifinals, where Davis, in a replay of the hot seat match, reached the hill but couldn’t get past it. Conway’s four straight games put him in the finals.
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Conway dominated the first set of the finals, taking little time to think and even less time to shoot as he got out from everywhere. His third break and run of the set was in the last rack as he pushed the second set with a 10-6 win.
Although Jason Jones didn’t close out the win in the first set of the finals, fortunately for the Montgomery native, there was no déjà vu, as he handily took the second set.
The second set, though still well-played, went quite the opposite way. With a couple good outs, a 4-9 carom, and a 2-9 combination, Jones got to a 4-1 lead. In the alternate-break format, Conway made it 4-2 with a break and run, but Jones returned it in the next rack to make it 5-2. Conway got it to 5-4, but Jones won the safety battle in the next game to make it 6-4, and two early 9 ball combinations put him on the hill. After notching up the next game, Conway broke what turned out to be the final rack. He pushed out to a jump shot, which Jones returned, and took his final shot: a good hit on the 1 ball that came close to falling but stayed up for Jones. Making quick work of the table, Jones took first with a 9-5 win.
Results:
1st Jason Jones $1,000
2nd Benny Conway, Jr. $450
3rd Morty Davis $250
4th Daniel McKinney $165
5th John Maikke $100
Shane Winters