Nearly 2,500 fans enjoyed another action-packed display at the Armory Saturday afternoon as the DC Rollergirls‘ home teams played out the fourth round of the season.
Cherry Blossom Bombshells 110 – 94 Majority Whips
By Special Correspondent: Rock Clobster
In the first bout of the DC Rollergirls’ home-team double-header, the Cherry Blossom Bombshells (2-1) were pitted a second time against DCRG’s newest team, the Majority Whips (1-2). In the teams’ first matchup in November, heavy hitting and a rash of Whip penalties helped the Bombshells prevail 185-96.
This time, the Whips struck first: Dual Hitizen (who served as Team France’s captain in the inaugural Roller Derby World Cup) eked out four points against Bombshell veteran jammer Yankee Scandal. The next few jams were Bombshells away: Lucky Penny and Ridin’ Dirty each scored three, followed by Yankee Scandal in a jammer-on-jammer duel with Dual Hitizen. Behind the impenetrable Bombshell defense of Guantanamo Babe and Nubian Nemesis, Scandal was able to score three grand slams to bring the score to 21-4.
The Whips would not crack: They quickly regrouped and earned lead jammer in the next three jams. While they weren’t able to reduce the margin, they prevented further Bombshell blossoming, with the score 25-8 10 minutes in. A series of hit-and-quit trips traded between Bombshells Yankee Scandal and Lucky Penny and Whips Dual Hitizen and Fierce Compredator made it 34-16 around the 15-minute mark. The Bombshells’ go-to jammers Lucky Penny and Yankee Scandal scored again, aided by some hard hitting by Artemis Conduct, while the Whips added some new faces to the scoring column: Nasty Pelosi earned five in a powerjam against Yankee Scandal, while Slam Grier scored five of her own right before halftime, thanks to a great assist by teammate Spank Erin, to make the score 65-30 in favor of the Bombshells.
The second half initially looked to be more of the same between these two teams, with Bombshell The Ultimate Whorrior scoring two points, and the Whips’ Nasty Pelosi held powerless in the next jam after earning lead. In the third jam, Lucky Penny capitalized on several Whips in the box, banking 20 points to run up the score to 87-30. In another rematch between Yankee Scandal and Dual Hitizen, both scored to make it 90-32. But the Whips quickly made it more interesting by scoring in the next seven jams, aided by a penalty box blooming with Bombshells–at one point, Scarlet O’Snap was the only Bombshell blocker on the track. Captain Lois Slain joined the Whips’ jammer rotation, scoring in three different jams, with teammates Dual Hitizen and Fierce Compredator also contributing twice each, ending the seven-jam run at 94-73. During a neck-and-neck jammer battle between Yankee Scandal and Jackie Mae Day, the confusion about lead jammer status earned Mae Day an illegal procedure penalty, ending the Bombshell drought at 98-73.
With 10 minutes left, Whip Dual Hitizen kept Lucky Penny from crossing the century mark, scoring four to make it 98-77. The Bombshells held the majority for three jams, increasing their lead to 105-81 with only Slam Grier scoring for the Whips. Lucky Penny’s unlucky penalty helped the Whips’ Fierce Compredator score eight in a power jam, narrowing the margin to 105-89. With just over two minutes remaining, Dual Hitizen made it a nail-biter by cutting the lead to 11, at 105-94 in favor of the Bombshells. Winning lead on the last jam was the key to victory: Yankee Scandal melted the Majority Whips’ hopes by outracing Lois Slain, scoring five to seal the victory for the Cherry Blossom Bombshells with a score of 110-94.
Scare Force One 229 – 53 DC DemonCats
By Special Correspondent Maria Malicia
For the second bout of the evening, the DC DemonCats took on the yet-to-be-defeated Scare Force One. Though the DemonCats seemed to have the cheering crowd on their side, Scare Force managed to shut them down early to win the game.
In the first jam, both teams went out strong with veteran blockers. Tenacious Jersey Jill jammed for the ‘Cats, but double-threat Soledad gained lead jammer for Scare Force. The jammers kept the two-minute jam interesting: Soledad took a trip to the box for an illegal procedure, but Jill soon followed after cutting the track. The jam ended with the DemonCats gaining three points, but Scare Force prevailing with nine.
For the first half of the period, Scare Force kept the DemonCats’ score low with hard-hitting defense lead by Velocityraptor, Condoleezza Slice and Soledad. Meanwhile, a deep rotation of Scare Force jammers consistently ran up the score to 70-11.
With 10 minutes left in the half, jammer Nina Ninja, a recent transfer to the DemonCats, started a small but mighty scoring streak by fighting through the pack and gaining three points, only to be taken down by rookie Fly by Night. Jersey Jill followed, taking advantage of Scare Force jammer Witchcrafty’s skate malfunction to pull another 12 points. Scare Force One rookie jammer Sharp Shredder glided effortlessly through the pack in the next jam, but ended up in the penalty box, opening the door for the DemonCats’ Mini Vandal to score another five points in a powerjam.
Up 70-31 and determined to maintain their impenetrable lead, Scare Force One then called a timeout and came back to virtually end the ‘Cats’ progression. Collectively, Marion Barrycuda and Brutal Noodle swiftly gained an impressive 35 points in the last two jams to end the half at 109-35.
The second half of the bout was rough for the DemonCats, as they sent out Jersey Jill and Mini Vandal in heavy rotation. Beginning with Soledad on the jammer line, Scare Force held the ‘Cats for the first three jams and steadily increased their lead, while Jill was only able to answer with two points in the fourth jam.
With 15 minutes left in the half, a well-rested Lenore Gore adeptly worked her way through the pack five times, bringing the score to 190-42. The next jam saw the DemonCats’ Lady Burn Johnson take down Scare Force jammer Sharp Shredder with a hard hit, forcing her to call off the jam, yet not before bringing the score to 199-42.
In the final jam of the evening, Scare Force had several blockers in the box, and the DemonCats brought out a solid lineup, including the tireless Rachel MadHo, Bad Asset and Ms. Judgment. However, despite the DemonCats’ ability to hold up jammer Sharp Shredder each time she came through the pack during her powerjam, she still scored an additional nine points to bring the final score to 229-53, leaving the DemonCats with a 0-4 record and ensuring Scare Force One a spot in this year’s championship bout.
The DC Rollergirls’ All-Stars head west to start their 2012 WFTDA season as they represent the East Coast at The Big O, an invitational tournament in Eugene, Oregon, February 10-12. The next home-team double header will be Saturday, February 25 at the Armory. More information on all things DCRG can be found at the DC Rollergirls website.
