Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
(BALLWIN, MO) Saturday night at Midwest Sport Hockey, first period pushes propelled local teams within the Arch Rival Roller Girls and GateKeepers Roller Derby to snatch decisive victories and solidify upward trajectories.
In the men’s opener, the South Grand Slammers out-muscled the Riverfront Crimes, 161-97, and kept its regular season record spotless (2-0). In the women’s headliner, the M-80s outpaced the Stunt Devils, 250-192, to even its record to 1-1.
Ending the calendar year on a high note, both winning squads will be idle when the St. Louis-based flat-track leagues co-present the next twin bill at Queeny Park on January 3.
ARCH RIVAL: M-80s 250 STUNT DEVILS 194
That final score is not a typo. Both rosters came fully prepared for a low-scoring battle, but the cumulative scoring kicked into overdrive as the game progressed. A 25-point halftime edge for the M-80s was doubled up in the second frame, resulting in the 56-point victory.
“One of the things that I was saying tonight while we were playing on the floor was, ‘Let’s mesh together like a rainbow!’” said M-80s jammer/blocker Tupac Shank-Her afterwards. “The more that we’re playing together, the more we’re becoming a unit. We have a really solid defense and great people that can play offense. We just had to get to know each other a little bit more in order to really execute that strategy.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Its opponent, the Stunt Devils, was most certainly game. Trailing 19-12 nine jams in, the Stunts flipped the scoreboard to its favor as newly-minted jammer Bricktator, a high-profile, off-season transfer from California-based B.ay A.rea D.erby, notched an 18-point power jam that helped her squad gain a 31-19 lead with 20:00 left in the half.
The M-80s responded with a 51-14 surge that spanned the next five jams and set the game’s overall narrative. Shank-Her’s 30-point power jam scored with 17:55 left helped the M-80s gain a 49-31 lead change. Science Friction collected an 8-4 strike on the next rotation that pushed the advantage to 57-35. The ensuing run continued over the next three rotations, which widened the M-80s’ lead to 70-45 with 12:00 left in the period.
Refusing to wave the white flag by halftime, the Stunts’ blocking schema, paced by Grave Danger, Mayor Francis Slayer, Morgan LeFaetal, Ninja Sass ‘Em, Smack A’NOVA, Soundproof, Shear-Ra Powers, Danisaurus Rex and Orange Ya’ Sry, cut into the deficit. They narrowed the margin to 15 points following Bricktator’s 22-point power jam scored with 3:50 left in the half that whittled the M-80s’ lead to 86-71.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Paced by Friction’s 14-pointer in jam 22, the M-80s churned a 22-12 stretch in the period’s waning rotations and sported a 108-83 at intermission.
Friction became a focal point early in the second half as she collected 19 even-strength points in jam five that pushed the M-80s’ lead to 132-88 with 24:30 left in the game.
Meanwhile, the firecrackers’ blocking battalion, anchored by Rhino-Might, Party Foul, The Ginger Assassin, Warpath O’ Jen, Jamheiser Bush, Arcane Sugar, Carmina Piranha, eZe and Betty Blaster, helped maintain the margin and expand the lead, 163-111, with 17:20 left in the contest.
A 30-10 late-game charge by the Stunts narrowed the score to 173-141 with 9:40 remaining but a 14-4 strike from IDA the Living Dead in jam 19 pushed the M-80s’ lead to 187-145.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The M-80s outscored the Stunt Devils, 108-83, in the second period to notch the 250-192 victory and grab the second position in ARRG’s three-team regular season standings with a 1-1 mark. Shank-Her finished with 93 points, unofficially, followed by Friction’s 63 and IDA’s 62.
Meanwhile, the Stunts (0-1) look to rebound in its next battle, a January 3 meeting with two-time defending champion, the Smashinistas (1-0). Helping the cause will be the roster return of jammer Mighty Mighty Boston as well as jammer Chokehold Chanel, who saw limited action deep in the second period due to injury.
“Everybody played really hard, every jam and no one ever gave up,” said Bricktator, who finished with 133 points in her ARRG debut. “Moving forward, we will have more people, but we’re also going to be mindful of our transitions from offense to defense and reducing the time of us thinking about it to doing it.”
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
M-80s (250): Tupac Shank-Her 94, Science Friction 63, IDA the Living Dead 62, Party Foul 19, Jamheiser Bush 9, Rhino-Might 4.
STUNT DEVILS (192): Bricktator 133, Mayor Francis Slayer 35, Shear-Ra Powers 19, Chokehold Chanel 5.
GKRD: SOUTH GRAND SLAMMERS 161, RIVERFRONT CRIMES 97
The South Grand Slammers, the league’s defending champion, carried the momentum launched last month by implementing the same methodology applied at its dominant season opener: deep jamming, heavy hitting and shut-down defense. It resulted in a 64-point duke and solo possession of first place in the Turf Wars’ hierarchy.
“One thing I love about the Slammers is that we’re a very dedicated team,” said co-captain D Mouthful after the game. “Any time we get a chance to skate, we do, and I think that’s why we’re doing so well. I think our biggest strength is trust and it’s great knowing that these guys are on the track all the time.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Down 3-2 two jams in, Mouthful’s 14-point strike with 26:10 left gave the Slammers a 16-3 edge.
The Riverfront Crimes, making its “Turf Wars” regular season debut Saturday, responded with a 12-2 run. Capped by Shane-go Fett’s nine point tally in jam five, the Crimes narrowed the gap to 18-15 six minutes in.
Both teams kept each other’s scoring at bay over ensuing rotations and the Slammers maintained a 27-23 edge with 18:00 left in the half.
The Slammers’ Spin Diesel scored ten points at 16:00 to push the lead to 38-23. Fett countered with eight on the next rotation for the Crimes that whittled the margin to 38-31.
A Slammers’ 27-11 run over the next ten minutes gave the defending champs a sizable advantage. Punctuated by Indecent Exposure’s 15-7 strike in jam 17, the Slammers’ lead blossomed, 65-42 with 5:00 left in the period.
A Crimes’ late-period rally, launched by The Saint’s nine-pointer scored with 2:30 left, resulted in a 13-5 push that narrowed the Slammers’ lead to 70-57 at intermission. The momentum carried over into the first jam of the second period and the Crimes’ Debaucherous Prime netted an 11-7 jam, making the contest a single-digit affair, 77-68.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Slammers responded with 23-1 run over the next three rotations. Following Mouthful’s nine-pointer in jam four, South Grand broke triple-digits on the scoreboard, 100-69 with 21:50 left in the contest.
Paced by blockers Double Excel, Neal Death Experience, Inquadable Hulk, Fruit Wallup, Gnat King Kill, Percy Controll and Sweet Tooth, the Slammers continued to rack up points as the period progressed while keeping the Crimes’ scoring minimal.
Hand Rail’s 17-4 jam with 14:20 left extended the Slammers’ lead to 117-81. Outscoring the Crimes 91-40 in the second period, the defending champs rolled to the 161-97 victory and improved to 2-0. Exposure’s 59 points topped the scoring ledger for the Slammers, who will be idle in January.
The Crimes (0-1) were paced by Fett’s 44 points, followed by Prime’s 35. Despite the setback, positives were found and a rebound in January against the Dogtown Rockets (0-1) is the missive.
“We took away (from this game) a lot of playing time,” said Crimes’ blocker mrPINK afterwards. “It’s repetition, just like any sport, and getting into game mode, learning situations. Watching the game film is going to be the big thing. Seeing what we did wrong or what we did right and how to take that into next month.”
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
SOUTH GRAND SLAMMERS (161): Indecent Exposure 59, Hand Rail 53, D Mouthful 50, Spin Diesel 10, Gnat King Kill 9.
RIVERFRONT CRIMES (97): Shane-go Fett 44, Debaucherous Prime 35, The Saint 9, Dr Dread 5, Skulls McCrackin 4.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to archrivalrollergirls.com.
For more information on GateKeepers Roller Derby, go to stlgatekeepers.com.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
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