BEST IN THE WEST

champs Randy Cote (in shock) and Gregg Kern

     Randy Cote and Gregg Kern captured their first JBT major victories in thrilling action at the 2008 JBT Best In The West tournament, hosted by BRC Zone Mesa,

     Cote led the scratch division qualifying round, amassing 39 points in the one-of-a-kind format that consisted of 8 hours of matchplay competition in day one.  He remained at or near the top of the leaderboard on day two.  Meanwhile, Kyle King continued his magical season by sneaking into the six-person finals by winning his ninth round matches.  He then threw a 210 to advance along with Matt Jones (214) in round one of the finals, while Anthony Tripi (202) and Kris George (176) bowed out in fifth and sixth, respectively. 

    Randy and #2 seed Cameron Smith then joined Matt and Kyle for the semifinals.  In that round, Smith's ninth frame miss seemed to spell elimination, but King uncharacteristically went open-open in the ninth and tenth to give Smith a chance to double to advance.  However, Cameron could not regroup from his earlier trouble, and Kyle (212) and Cote (240) advanced, while Smith (204) and Jones (167) took third and fourth.

    In the title match, Randy got his revenge from a loss to King at Cactus earlier this year, completing the dominant event with a 223-204 win, earning his 5th career title and a $600 scholarship windfall, thanks in part to the $100 bonus for throwing Ebonite equipment, our title sponsor.

   Gregg Kern took a similar route to the handicap title.  He led the day one qualifying with a 43 point total through six rounds of intense matchplay.  He then solidified the lead with an even bigger day two, including the high game of the entire tournament, a 299 in round eight, which helped him game a one-round finals bye as the top seed, along with #2 Alex Pellegrino. 

   In round one of the finals,  Brooks Gould, who survived a 5-way rolloff just two make it to day two, continued his red-hot second day with a 239 game that advanced, along with Alexis Atkin's 220.  Nick Armstrong (209) and Dylan Taylor (199) were eliminated in fifth and sixth place.  In a well-bowled and thrilling round two, Atkin advanced with 238 and Pellegrino bowed out with 201, but the final spot wasn't determined until the final frame, when Kern got exactly the double-7 he needed for a 234-233 survival over Gould, setting up the finale.

   The title game was close early, but Kern pulled away with strikes at the end, winning the game 228-210 for his first career title and a $575 payday, while Atkin's career best JBT finish earned her a healthy $300 runner-up prize.

   Over $4,400 was awarded at the first JBT 'major' of the 08-09 season.  Thanks to the whole crew at BRC Zone Mesa for being great hosts as always.  Want in on all this fun? Come on down to the next JBT event, it's as simple as that!