Pleasantly moderate warm weather and Southern Oregon’s premiere destination, Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, OR, welcomed players from Western BCA for the 4th Casino Tour Stop. For many players, this was their first trip to Seven Feathers and they were impressed by the Jewel of Southern Oregon. Eagle Eye Billiards brought in the pool tables and provided the tournament direction for this very casual, relaxed and fun event. Even though the fields were small, the quality of the competition was not lacking.
Tournament play got underway with two divisions of Scotch Doubles. Ultimate Scotch Doubles started with ten entries. The field worked its way down to the final three, with Matt Horner/Carlos Cadena waiting unbeaten for an opponent to decide who would be the Champion. Stan Tourangeau/Jose Aquino and Linn Petty/Roger Goodman faced off to decide who would to the final. Linn/Roger had to settle for 3rd place/$190 as Stan/Jose moved on to the final. Matt/Carlos and Stan/Jose were tied through the first 4 games and Matt/Carlos had a chance to close it out with a near break and run but gave the table to Stan/Jose who completed their run out to force a double dip. The second set started with Matt/Carlos getting off to a 2-0 lead with a break and run and a ball in had on the 8-Ball opportunity thanks to an untimely scratch by Jose. Stan/Jose answered with a win in the next game to get to within on but that would be it. Stan/Jose fought hard but ended up in 2nd place/$400 as Stan scratched on the break and Matt/Carlos ran out for the win the $500 check.
At the same time, the Combined Open Mixed and Men’s B Scotch Doubles was playing. These two divisions were merged into one because the Open Mixed didn’t have enough entries for its own bracket. Combined, there were 12 entries. Sonny Boggs/Stephanie Karpins emerged the Champions, going undefeated throughout and taking home $260. Rocke Bell/Branch Hartsell were 2nd/$180, Brian Anders/Jerry Ridenour were 3rd/$110 and Bob Chaney/Matt Cook were 4th/$70.
Singles play began with the Men’s B Singles and a field of 27. Branch Hartsell played well and earned the point and a spot in the final. There were many contenders but, in the end, it was Jose Aquino and Nate Dunford playing for the opportunity to take on Branch in the final. It was a hard fought battle, but Jose came out on top and was on his way to the final leaving Nate in 3rd place/$130. Branch continued to play well, winning the first 3 games of the race to 4. Jose wasn’t willing to just five it up and fought back to take the next two games and get within one fame, but that’s as far as he would go. Branch was determined to not let Jose get one more game. Jose had to settle for 2nd place/$190 as Branch closed out game 6 to take the crown and $285.
The Women’s Open Singles started with 10 players. Debi Hollander made quick work of the women’s field and took the point. She waited patiently to see who would be her opponent in the final. Stephanie Karpins, fresh off her Scotch Doubles win, lost early and went to the B side of the Brackets. Not to be deterred from her goal of a double win, Stephanie played hard and well, patiently picking off the opponents on the loser’s side. She won the final match of the B side against Monica Werle, who took 3rd place /$70. Steph would have to beat Debi twice to take the title and she was not to be denied. Their first set went hill/hill, but Steph prevailed. The second set, filled with strategic, methodical play from both these top notch women’s open players, concluded in a r-2 win for Stephanie, giving her the title and $240 and the second win in her double, while Debi took 2nd place/$140.
Men’s Master Singles started with a field of 8 of Western BCA’s best and the play was fierce throughout. Luke Thomas played his way to the point and although relatively new to the Men’s Master Division, showed he well deserved to be there. Stan Tourangeau and Matt Horner, no strangers to head-to-head play, met to play for the other spot in the final and, this time, Matt edged Stan out, sending him to the sidelines in 3rd place/$120. The race to 6 final started off with Luke winning the toss and breaking dry. Matt then proceeded to run out for the first win of the match. The 2nd game got underway with Matt making a couple of balls but having to play a safety and give the table to Luke who returned the favor with a better safety and all Matt could do was make a good hit. Luke had a good table and ran out for the win to make it 1-1. Game 3 was much the same with Luke again coming out on top. 2-1. Luke took advantage of Matt’s dry break to run out the next game. 3-1. Matt answered back with a mini-run of his own to get to within 1. 2-3. Luke took the next two back and forth games to get on the hill 5-2. Game 8 saw Luke scratch on the break, Matt run 5 balls and miss the 6th thus giving Luke a chance to run down to the 8 and miss and giving the game to Matt. 5-3. Matt broke and ran the next game to almost even the match up (5-4) but that would prove to be it as Luke answered back with his own break and run to leave Matt in 2nd place/$180 and take the match, title and $300.
The Combined Singles was an interesting mix of women GrandMaster (2) and Master women (2) players n taking on a bunch of Open A men in this field of 17. The women more than held their own, with 2 placing in the top 3. Shelby Locati finished 3rd/$175 being edged out by Linn Petty, narrowly averting a girl/girl final. GrandMaster Linda Carter went through the field undefeated to get to the point. She and Linn faced off in a hard fought double dip final. Linda started out all business, with a break and run. The two would alternate wins the next four games, including a break and run by Linn to get to 3-2 for Linda. Linda missed an easy 8-Ball in game 6 let Linn get even at 3-3. Game 7 was a safety game with Linda finally making a nice bank to get on the 8 and get the win and she was on the hill 4-3. Linn took game 8 to even the match at 4-4. The rubber game started with Linda breaking, making 3 balls and missing to give the table to Linn who then completed the mini-run for the first set and forcing a double dip. The 2nd time around saw the two exchanging table runs. 1-1. Linn took the next two games. 3-1. Game 4 was another safety game finally leaving Linda Hooked on the 8 and making a nice kick to get the win. Linn took game 6 after Linda hooked herself on the 13-Ball and fouled. Linn, with Ball in hand, took over and ran out to get to the hill first again 4-2. Game 7 would be another safety game with Linda’s final safe failing and leaving Linn with a way out. Linda settled for 2nd place/$230 and Linn went home with the title and $315.
Next on the agenda was team play, with 2 divisions: Men’s/Mixed Open Teams and Men’s/Mixed B Teams. The Men’s/Mixed B Teams was a small field of 5 teams. Narrdak (Chuck Basney, Shawn Craigo and Caulder Lonie) took on BC Shooters (Rocke Bell, Branch Hartsell and Todd Hollenbeck) in the final with BC Shooters coming in 2nd/$210 and Narrdak taking the top prize of $450. Kudos to Branch Hartsell for playing in all three of his finals with one championship to his credit. Way to go Branch!
The Men’s/Mixed Open Teams featured 14 teams and a top prize of $1050. Rodents (Shea Lanter, Paul Marquez and David Scarth) remained undefeated on the A side to wait for an opponent in the final. On the back side, Master Cups (Jose Aquino, Shelby Locati and Stan Tourangeau) worked their way through to get there. Their first victim was Smooth Strokes (Carlos Cadena, Luke Thomas and Tavis Wagner) who finished in 4th place/$150. Eagle Eye Billiards (Danny Burdick, Brandon McKensie and Gary Peyton) was next finishing in 3rd place/$360. The final between Rodents and Master Cups was set. Master Cups got off to a good start taking the first two games. Then Rodents took control, winning the next 4 Games, including Paul’s break and run. Stan won the next game, but the momentum swung back to Rodents, who took the next 3 games (7-3) and they were on the hill. Jose won the next game to keep the match going. The next game between Stan and Shea would prove to the last one as Shea got the win and the match for his team. Master Cups would take home $630 and the Rodents received $1050 for their triumph over the Master Cups.
Western BCA wishes to thank Seven Feathers Casino Resort for their gracious hospitality and looks forward to the next Casino Tour event in Southern Oregon. Congratulation to all the winners!