by InsidePOOL Staff

A strong field of 41 Northeast players came out for the December 12 stop on the Tri-State Tour, with Scott Bannon taking home first place. The $500-added tournament was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

On the winners’ side final four, Jake Schwartz sent Scott Simonetti west 7-3 to advance to the hot seat match, while Rob Barbara eked out a 7-6 victory over Sam Vitellero to meet Schwartz. Barbara was able to easily handle Schwartz and sent him to the left side of the chart 7-3.

Bannon worked his way through the one-loss side of the chart to take the win, winning five matches in a row to earn a shot at first place. He survived a hill-hill match with Annie Flores 7-6 and moved on to Ted Lapadula, whom he also eliminated after their double-hill bout. Bannon then trounced Simonetti, just over from the winners’ side, 7-1, while Sandie Paterino ousted Vitellaro 6-2.

Bannon and Paterino collided in the quarterfinal match, and Bannon continued his dominance over the field by eliminating Paterino in fourth place 8-3. Schwartz was a roadblock before Bannon could reach the finals, but Bannon sent him packing 7-3 to face Barbara. Though Bannon faced a 4-1 deficit in the final match with Barbara, he recovered well enough to go on and defeat Barbara 9-5.

A strong field of 41 Northeast players came out for the December 12 stop on the Tri-State Tour, with Scott Bannon taking home first place.

Results:
1st Scott Bannon $600
2nd Ron Barbara $400
3rd Jake Schwartz $250
4th Sandie Paterino $150
5th Scott Simonetti $85
Sam Vitellaro
7th Ted Lapadula $65
Tony Eglasias