With the newly compiled BCA Pool League (BCAPL) Rule Book as reference, the players were ready to attack the racks.

The Men's Open drew 60 players, with Jerry Stuckart eventually facing off against Robert Barry for the hot-seat.  Stuckart then sent Barry to the one loss side where Bob Soto waited.  Soto had lost his second match but bounced back with eight in a row including big wins over Tony Flores, Joe Perez and Brandon Butler.  Barry sent Soto to the stands in third place.  Barry took an early lead against Stuckart in the finals and it looked like a second set was imminent.  Stuckart fought back to tie the score at hill-hill and then claim the last rack and the Arizona State BCA Men's title at 5-4.

The Ladies Open event had 30 players contending tor the title.  The winner's side came down to Stevie Caylor from Prescott and Noel Rima from Phoenix.  Caylor, a relative unknown to the Phoenix players, came with a full cheering section and a game to back it up.  Caylor ousted Rima and took her place in the hot-seat.  Rima next faced loser bracket finalist Lourdes Lomeli.  Strong play from Lomeli, while Rima was running out of gas, led to a Lomeli win.  Lomeli had lost early in the event to Caylor and was hoping to avenge in the finals.  The match was close, but the scrappy Caylor came out on top again to earn the title of Arizona State BCA Ladies Champion.

The Men's Masters Division saw reigning champion Dennis Orender make his way through the field to earn the hot-seat with a win over Terry Tucker.  Tucker led early, but Orender quickly overcame the deficit and cruised to victory.  After Tucker eliminated teammate Pete Lhotka on the one loss side, he met Orender in the finals.  This time Orender took the lead early.  Tucker made a valiant effort to mount a comeback, but to no avail.  Dennis Orender affirmed his second straight Arizona BCA State Masters title.

The Ladies Masters Division was a round-robin event with Susan Williams and Bernie Store emerging as the two top players.  Store scored a dominating 5-1 win over Williams in their round robin match, but it was Williams' 7-2 win over Store in the finals that earned the title.  The Arizona State Ladies Masters title will fit nicely next to Williams' BCAPL National Scotch Doubles title from earlier this year.

With all of the singles events completed, the team events got underway.

The Ladies Teams event ended in a showdown between the "A" Team from Alexander's in Phoenix and Kitty's Bad Cats from Kitty's in Phoenix.  The Bad Cats are the reigning BCAPL Open Ladies Champions, but the "A" Team was chock full of top masters talent.  Both teams made it to the hot-seat with the "A" Team coming back from an early disadvantage to win.  The Bad Cats sent the Snap team apackin' in third place and earned another shot at the "A" Team for the title.  The Bad Cats gave it all they had but it just wasn't enough and the "A" Team took the State Championship.

This left the Open Teams event undecided.  All players in attendance agreed that the early favorite was Cop and Robbers.  The team was crammed with talent including reigning Masters Champion Dennis Orender and National Barbox 8-Ball Champion Mitch Ellerman.  All that talent was not enough, as the Land Sharks from Crazy Earls put them in the loser's bracket in the third round.  The Sharks pummelled two more strong teams, X Factor from Phoenix and the White Rhinos from Prescott, to sit atop the hot-seat.  Who else to confront them in the finals – none other than Cop and Robbers!  The first set was a close one, but a victorious Cop and Robbers forced a second set.  The Land Sharks quickly found that allowing their opponents to see the finish line was bad strategy.  Cop and Robbers crushed the team from Crazy Earls in the final set to become Arizona State BCA Champions.

2008 AZ BCA State Championship was another successful event with five of the six events being won by teams from Alexander's in Phoenix.  This is a true testament to the level of talent there, but was also a statement to what players lost when Alexander's unfortunately closed their doors earlier this year.  This year's players unanimously agreed that the new location of Mazatzal Casino was outstanding, and they wish to thank the entire staff for their care and dedication to service.

Payouts:

Ladies Open Division

1st Stevie Caylor  $725
2nd Lourdes Lomelo $525
3rd Noel Rima $350
4th Sonia Florez $200
5th Natalie Hostler $100
5th Claudia Justus $100
7th Linda McBride-Adams $75
7th Char Alcott $75

Ladies Masters

1st Susan Williams $500
2nd Bernie Store $250

Men's Masters

1st Dennis Orender $550
2nd Terry Tucker $300

Men's Open Division

1st Jerry Stuckart $1300
2nd Robert Barry $900
3rd Bob Soto $600
4th Brandon Butler $350
5th Ed Parker $200
5th Joe Perez $200
7th Doc Rice $125
7th Todd Ludwigg $125
9th Andy Davis $75
9th David Sloan $75
9th Travis Kennedy $75
9th Tony Florez $75
13th Echo Ledger $50
13th Bill Vander Weyst $50
13th Al Barlow $50
13th Gary Wheeler $50

Mens Teams

1 Cop and Robbers  $1800
2 Crazy Earls 2  $1200
3 White Rhinos  $900
4 X Factor  $550

Ladies Teams
1 "A" Team $1100
2 Kittys Bad Cats $650

The BCAPL would like to thank Mike Howerton for his contribution to this editorial.

Photos Courtesy of Rixx's Images.

A Team - Womens	Cop and Robbers - Mens
Dennis Orender First Place Mens Masters	Jerry Stuckart First Place Mens
Stevie Caylor 1st Womans	Susan Williams First Place Womens Masters