It was the first time that either Brad Stone or Christy Norris had appeared in a Great Southern Billiard Tour final. They'd met earlier in a winners' side semifinal, with Stone advancing to the hot seat, and Norris coming back from a three-match sojourn to the losers' bracket. Stone took two out of three against Norris to claim his first GSBT title, approximately three weeks ahead of reporting for duty with the United States Marine Corps. The $800-added event, drew 39 entrants to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC on the weekend of December 13-14.

 

The first of the three meetings between Stone and Norris was a double hill affair that moved Stone into the hot seat match and sent Norris to the losers' bracket. Stone was joined in the winners' side final by Rich Anderson, who'd defeated Zach Courtwright 8-2. Stone defeated the higher-ranked Anderson 4-6 to gain the hot seat and wait on Ms. Norris.

 

On the loss side, Norris picked up Matt Collins, who'd defeated Brittany Burnett 7-2 and Matt Hall 7-1 to reach her. Courtwright drew Luis Tovar, who'd eliminated Tanya Parsley 5-1, and Tony DeGuzman 5-2.

 

It was Norris and Courtwright who advanced to the quarterfinals; Norris with a 5-4 victory over Collins, as Courtwright was busy ending Tovar's day 4-2. Norris downed Courtwright in that quarterfinal match 5-2 and went on to defeat Anderson 5-7 in the semifinals.

 

She defeated Stone 5-2 in the opening set of the true double elimination final. The two battled to double hill in the second set, before Stone prevailed to earn his first GSBT title.