Lil D Takes Down Mobile Great Southern Billiard Tour Event
Great Southern Billiard Tour / Mobile, AL

by Lea Andrews

Daniel “Lil D” McKinney, who won his first Great Southern Billiard Tour event in June, won his second on December 5. The $1,000-added, A/B amateur event, which saw its numbers diminished by the Crimson Tide SEC championship game, drew 23 players to Breakers Billiards in Mobile, AL.

Following a 9-7 win over Vernon Steinke, A-ranked McKinney arrived in the hot seat match to face AA-ranked John Macias, who’d eased past John Jones 10-4. Another 9-7 victory landed McKinney in the hot seat and Macias on the west side.

On the one-loss side, Stacy Toomer and Justin Ledford faced each other after getting by B-ranked father and son Charlie Conway 7-5 and Charlie Conway Jr., 9-1, respectively. Prevailing 9-5 over Toomer, who was racing to 7, Ledford moved on to Jones. Meanwhile, a 10-5 victim of Macias’ was making his way through the field: B-ranked Guy Devaney notched a hill-hill 7-9 win over AA-ranked Josh Hilliard to face CK Brown, who’d gotten past B-ranked Greg Hagin 7-5. After holding Brown to four games, Devaney moved on to Steinke, holding him to six games to face Jones, who’d put Ledford in fifth 7-4. The tight quarterfinal match ended in Devaney’s favor 7-6, and he moved on to a rematch with Macias in the semifinals, where he earned his revenge 7-6 to face McKinney in the finals.

Devaney, who lacks McKinney’s tournament experience, nonetheless came out on top in the first set of the true double-elimination final match. Though the score ended in a tie 7-7, Devaney had reached his goal, while McKinney was two games shy of his, and it all came down to one final set. It was then that McKinney’s stamina came into play, and he was able to take advantage of some early misses by Devaney to give himself the edge, earning his second win 9-5.

Results:
1st Daniel McKinney $600
2nd Guy Devaney $400
3rd John Macias $200
4th John Jones $100
5th Justin Ledford $45
Vernon Steinke