Ellie Griffith Sweeps Gold Division at 2018 MCA Championship
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MCA President Steve Jackson presents the Gold hardware to champion Ellie Griffith
Brevin Millican Takes Second in Championship Tournament
Parkville, Mo.—Ellie Griffith won her first MCA Championship tournament on the way to placing first in the 2018 MCA Nine Wicket Series Gold Division points race.
Executing a series of immaculate roll-up shots and long, accurate split shots, Griffith cruised to a 27-12 victory against runner-up Brevin Millican.
Similar to her performance at the KC Open on the same court six weeks ago, Griffith broke through to the double wickets on the far side of the court with some ease while her opponent struggled to advance his balls past wicket three during the early phase of the game.
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Millican, however, showed patience and was able to climb closer while Griffith's black ball incurred some deadness after making the turn. He, too, had his split shot working most of the day. Coupled with some long roquets, he kept the game competitive.
But Griffith took control during a two-ball break that cleared her blue ball through the 11-, 12- and 13-point wickets. Her approaches to hoops 12 and 13 rolled yellow shortly past the wicket and blue set up within a yard of the playing side of the wicket. Two rotations later, Griffith scored blue's final wickets and pegged out blue as the timer dipped under one minute.
Griffith's won the final by a wider margin than the semifinal, which she took from Jim Ratzlaff by one point.
The second semifinal was a one-point affair as well. To qualify for the final, Millican upset No. 2 seed Justin Marciniak by scoring six wickets with his last ball. Entering last turns trailing 19-16, Millican watched Marciniak tack on one point with blue but fail to break up red and yellow, partnered near one back, the hoop that both balls were approaching.
Millican shanked his shot with red. Marciniak missed a 60-foot shot to peg out black.
Millican needed four to tie. Yellow began the three-ball break with red and the blue ball Marciniak left nearby. After scoring the doubles, Millican abandoned red and continued with Marciniak's blue ball to score three more to complete the late comeback.
The win was revenge for Marciniak's tight win over Millican in last turns during the 2016 MCA Championship final.
Had Millican come up short this time, Marciniak and Griffith would have entered the final tied in the Gold points race. Marciniak's elimination virtually clinched the Gold cup for Griffith.
