A team of Powell River pool players came from behind the eight ball recently to take second place at the provincial championships in Penticton.
Paul Marier, Derek Schwartz, Rick Gaebel, Joel Auffret and Powell River 8-Ball Pool League vice-president Clay Gloslee came together to form the first team from Powell River to ever play in the annual Lucasi Hybrid BC 8/9 Ball Championship. Named the Powell River Boys, the team took second place in C Division at the tournament, held earlier this month.
There were 40 tables and over 300 players at the tournament, held at Penticton Lakeside Resort and Casino. The Boys came into the tournament as one of 55 teams in C Division. They played nine rounds of 25 games against various teams and worked their way to the top of the A side of the division by the end of day one.
On the morning of day two the Boys played the top team from the B side, Vancouver’s Still the Mavericks, for the final, a team they had already played and beaten once before. Having already played a few games that morning the Vancouver team was warmed up coming into the match against the cold Boys. Despite this the Boys kept the scoreboard fairly even but ended up losing 11 to 13 to the Mavericks.
The second-place finish earned the team $500 and makes them eligible to enter into the 9th Annual CCS (Canadian Cue Sport Association) Western 8-Ball Championships in Calgary from May 25 to 29. Finishing in the money also puts the team into B Division for future tournaments.
There are 16 teams in the Powell River league who play for about eight months. Anyone interested in joining the league can either enter a four-person team at the beginning of a season or join a team. Teams meet to play at 7 pm on Wednesday nights. For more information readers can call Gloslee at 604.487.1752.
