Jeanette Lee Wins!

It would be an understatement to say that the two women facing off in the final of the Women's Professional Billiards Association Penn Ray Recreational Arizona Classic had a lot on their minds.

Jeanette Lee, winless since the WPBA Olhausen Classic in May of last year, was determined to prove, both to herself and fans, that yes, she still is a force to be contended with on the women's tour. Vivian Villarreal, Lee's opponent, was still dealing with the emotional wounds caused by the kidnapping of her daughter Nathalie.

The crowd at the Prescott Resort followed Jeanette's every move to the top.

However, Villarreal was the favorite in Prescott, Ariz.; after capturing runner-up finishes at the Classic Tour stops in Detroit and San Diego, Villarreal staged a dramatic comeback with her 11-3 trouncing of Allison Fisher at the Brunswick New York Classic. She was clearly back in her game.

Lee, however, had no such memories to fall back on. And she was hungry to change that situation.

It was that hunger to win, and to be happy again, the carried Lee to the title with a 7-4 victory over Villarreal.

Vivian Villarreal captures second place.

"Before the tournament in New York, my game had just been getting worse and worse," Lee says. "I was tired all the time, and I just didn't feel happy. Right or wrong, a lot of my self-esteem rides on how I perform. When I'm not playing up to my potential, it hurts me.

"I was having a really hard time balancing my career and my game," Lee continues. "Finally, I just had to sit down and realize that the game is what I truly love, and I needed to get back to it."

In order to do that, Lee stayed on in her hometown of New York after the tournament at Amsterdam Billiard Club. She played against old sparring partner Gene Nagy, as well as Stu Mattana, a regular at ABC. "When I'm at home in Indianapolis, I don't want to practice," Lee says. "There are so many other things that distract me from practicing: my business, my husband, my home. But in New York, I really got back into the game. All I did was play, and I loved it."

Jones stuck with third place.

This two-week intensive practice paid off. Lee, after steamrolling through her first rounds, hit a bump in her match against Loree Jon Jones, who knocked her into the one-loss bracket, 9-7. Lee then had to defeat Jones in the one-loss bracket final, which she did, 7-1, before facing Villarreal in the final.

"We were tied 4-4 in the final," Villarreal remembers. "I took the next game, but then I scratched on the 9 ball, and she got ball-in-hand. From there I wasn't able to catch up." Villarreal won $4,500 for second, and Lee took $6,500 for her first title of the year.

Despite missing the title in Prescott, Villarreal says her performance pleased her. "I felt really good with my game," she says. "I played well; I know my game's back. I'm over that hump."

As for Lee, her mental load is also a lot lighter after this win. "I'm the happiest person I've been in so long," she says. "Now my goal is just to keep this going, to be prepared for every event I go to from now on."