Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Goldsboro, NC
by Lea Andrews
Although B.J. Ussery suffered a loss on the way to the finals of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour stop August 1-2, he clinched the match that counts. Ussery was among the field of 30 who gathered for the $1,000-added event at Fast Eddie’s Billiards in Goldsboro, NC.
Ussery arrived unscathed into the hot seat match, having sent Jeff Abernathy west 7-3. His opponent, Sam Monday, had also notched up a 7-3 win, though his was over Earl Strickland. Ussery, like Strickland, managed just three games against Monday, and he moved west for some extra warm-up time before the finals.
Over on the one-loss side, Cary Dunn was making his way through with strong wins, taking down Ronnie Wiseman 7-4 and Eddie Little 7-5 before coming upon Strickland. The hill-hill battle ended with Dunn on top, planting Strickland in fifth along with Delton Howard, who had fallen to Abernathy 7-5. Against Abernathy, Dunn got into another hill-hill tug-of-war, but he came out on the wrong end this time, and Abernathy went on to meet Ussery in the semifinals.
Ussery echoed his earlier 7-3 win over Abernathy with another one, putting Abernathy in third and himself into the finals. Once in the single race-to-9 final set, Ussery got out to a 2-0 lead, but Monday rebounded to take the lead at 3-2 and 4-3. The two traded games to get to 4-4 and 6-6, but that’s when Ussery took over, marking up three straight to take first with a 9-6 win.
Coming out on top of the early bird tournament on Friday night was Cary Dunn, who won 7-3 over Steven Page in the finals. Dunn earned $100 for his win, while Page took home $60 and Jeff Abernathy took $20 for third. On Sunday, Heather Thompson took first in the ladies’ division, while Justin Ward won in the juniors’ division. Russell Sasser took first in the second chance tournament with a 7-1 win over Justin Ward, earning $70, while Ward earned $30. One lucky spectator, Jennifer Hard, was also a winner, taking home from a raffle a limited-edition Jacoby Cue worth $850.
Although B.J. Ussery suffered a loss on the way to the finals of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour stop August 1-2, he clinched the match that counts.
Results:
1st BJ Ussery $1,000
2nd Sam Monday $500
3rd Jeff Abernathy $325
4th Cary Dunn $225
5th Earl Strickland $150
Delton Howard
7th Eddie Little $75
Dustin Wiley