The D.C. Rollergirls sixth season came to a climax on Saturday at the D.C. Armory, with Scare Force One retaining the title in a blow-out over the Cherry Blossom Bombshells and the D.C. DemonCats upsetting the Majority Whips for the bronze medal.
D.C. DemonCats 148 – 132 Majority Whips
By Special Correspondent: Grig Larson
The first bout of the evening pitted the team with the fresh new scent, the Majority Whips, against the rebuilding D.C. DemonCats to see who would come away with third place. Although it was the lead-up to the championship bout, there was no loss of excitement as both teams gave fans the kind of game they live for.
The first period started off slow–so slow, in fact, that no one left the line in a 0-0 first jam that had the crowd booing. The second jam almost looked like more of the same until the Whips’ Dual Hitizen broke through the scrum and put the first four points on the board. From that point on, both teams battled it out in a heated competition that would never leave the penalty box cold. In the second jam, DemonCat blockers Ovary Action, Lady Burn Johnson, Bad Asset, and Bruisehilda kept the Whips’ Nasty Pelosi occupied while Jersey Jill racked up 14 points. By the fourth jam, however, the Whips’ Slam Grier regained the lead, skating unopposed to earn 14 points of her own, leaving the score at 18-14 in the Whips’ favor with five skaters crowding the penalty box.
The first half of the period saw jammers from both teams sharing seat-warming duties in the penalty box in a neck-and-neck nailbiter that looked like it could be anybody’s game–until the DemonCats’ Mini Vandal bared her claws in the 11th jam, tearing apart the score with three grand slams to bring the score to 40-27, DemonCats. Though the Whips managed to narrow the gap, the DemonCats kept their grip on the lead, going into the half with a score of 58-49.
The second period shot off like a rocket with Nina Ninja scoring four grand slams while Dual Hitizen was sent right to the penalty box. The DemonCats steadily built their lead back to 102-74, but the middle of the half saw a defensive struggle that kept both teams from gaining much ground. With the score at 108-77 at the end of the 10th jam, the Whips again seized the chance to close the gap with a 20-point jam to bring the score to 114-99. The ‘Cats’ Nina Ninja soon widened it again, sealing the deal with four grand slams that bumped the DemonCats’ score to 134.
The Whips found one last chance to come back with just 24 seconds left on the clock when Jersey Jill went to the penalty box, allowing Nasty Pelosi to rack up three grand slams in a row courtesy of well-played strategy from Rebel Shell and Styx N Stones, her only two blockers on the track. But it ultimately wasn’t enough for the Whips to pull ahead, and the DemonCats snagged the third-place victory with a cushion of just 16 points, winning 148-132.
Scare Force One 226 – 102 Cherry Blossom Bombshells
By Special Correspondent: Rock Clobster
The evening’s second bout—the Season 6 Championship—pitted defending Season 5 champs Scare Force One (6-0) against the Cherry Blossom Bombshells (4-2). Although the Bombshells’ only losses this season were to Scare Force, they gave the Fright Attendants their biggest challenge to date on March 18, leading at halftime before Scare Force ultimately prevailed, 138-100. This time, an early powerjam by Lenore Gore allowed Scare Force to build an insurmountable lead, and the Bombshells’ recovery in the second half would not be enough to overcome Scare Force’s dominance in this aggressively physical match-up.
Scare Force immediately demonstrated a willingness to shake things up strategically, surprising the Bombshells when captain Soledad passed the jammer panty to pivot Feral Streak, who scored five. Two jams later, Hook N’ SlasHer put the Bombshells’ first two points on the board. Five minutes in, Lucky Penny’s luck ran out, allowing Lenore Gore to score 23 in a powerjam before she too was sent out. Lenore came back from the box to battle Yankee Scandal, with both scoring to end 30-12. In Witchcrafty’s first jammer outing for Scare Force, she bewitched the Bombshell blockers to score eight, with teammates Marion Barrycuda and Sharp Shredder adding nine and 10, respectively, to pull away to 57-12.
Although Lucky Penny next scored a cent’s worth to make it 62-13, the Bombshells were stuck there for three more jams, with several of their players sidelined in the box. Witchcrafty flew around the track to score 15 in a powerjam, and two jams later would score again, building Scare Force’s lead to 81-13. With around six minutes left in the half, Feral Streak and Bombshell Artemis Conduct–in a rare appearance as a jammer–both scored, taking the Bombshells’ total to 21, where it remained for the rest of the half. Scare Force, meanwhile, closed out the half strong, with Deadly Lamarr and Marion Barrycuda capitalizing on powerjams, and Brutal Noodle and Feral Streak taking advantage of strong defense by Condoleezza Slice and Helena Handbag to build a commanding 110-21 lead.
The second half’s aggressively physical battle would see more Fright Attendants grounded in the penalty box, clearing the way for more Bombshell scoring, but some huge Scare Force powerjams early in the second half ultimately put victory out of reach. In the third jam, a full-length one that neither jammer could end, Marion Barrycuda scored 16 to Lucky Penny’s eight, to finish 134-33. With Lucky Penny still sidelined, Scare Force rookie Deadly Lamarr bagged the biggest jam of the day, scoring 29 backed by the huge offensive combination of Whips n’ Pains, Velocityraptor and Soledad.
While the Bombshells scored in the next several jams, they could only put up a handful of points each time, until the eighth jam, when Yankee Scandal–after a hard hit that sent her flying into referee Screwy Decimal–passed the panty to pivot Frankendoll, who was then able to score 12 to make it 175-54 at the midway point. But the Bombshells would remain stuck there for the next four jams, while Scare Force kept expanding their lead, with Lenore Gore, Witchcrafty, and Sharp Shredder all scoring. At the 12-minute mark, Lenore Gore and The Ultimate Whorrior traded powerjams, with each able to score while most of both packs did time in the penalty box, ending 195-67. Frankendoll scored again for the Bombshells, increasing their tally to 72. But both Lenore and Witchcrafty had more big jams in store for Scare Force, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively. Unfortunately, the Bombshells saved their biggest-scoring jams of the day until last, with both Yankee Scandal and The Ultimate Whorrior notching 15 points each to close out the bout. It wasn’t enough to erase Scare Force’s sizable lead, though, and the Fright Attendants prevailed 226-102, taking home the Skate of the Union Trophy for the second season in a row, and for a record fourth time in league history.
This concludes the season for DC Rollergirls’ home teams at the DC Armory, but the DC All-Stars and DCRG’s B-team, the Capitol Offenders, will see action next weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio, taking on the Cincinnati Rollergirls on May 19 and the Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls on May 20. The next local action for DC Rollergirls fans will be on July 14 at Dulles Sportsplex, when the DC All-Stars play Richmond’s River City Rollergirls.
