(CLEVELAND, OH) Prior to the Cleveland playoff round of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) Division 2 tournament, the St. Chux Derby Chix had only won two games during the regular season. In the last three days, they’ve eclipsed that total.
Image Credit: Lipstick Lezgo
St. Chux collected a heart-stopping 216-215 come-from-behind victory over Brandywine Sunday afternoon in the tournament’s fifth-place game. The Pack In Black, seeded seventh heading into ten-team playoff, finished its four game docket 3-1 and placed two positions higher than its seed.
Prior to the playoff, St. Chux had never faced tenth-seeded Brandywine historically. Sunday’s affair marked the second time this weekend the two teams played each other. St. Chux dropped the Belligerents into the consolation bracket Friday and the Pennsylvanians had revenge on their minds in the re-match.
Trailing 42-27 nine minutes in, St. Chux went on 45-9 run and built an advantage over the next eight minutes. At 19:25, SCDC tied the score 42-42 with a 15-point power jam from Psychokid D Freakout. Conner added five in jam nine and Jedi Knight-N-Gale tacked on four with 17:25 left in the first period to push the Pack In Black’s lead to 51-42.
A 13-5 non-lead power jam from Freakout extended the score to 64-47 with 14:55 left in the half. Back-to-back four-pointers from Sugar Shock and Knight-N-Gale concluded the rally and SCDC sported a 72-51 lead with 13:00 remaining in the period.
After Brandywine posted four in jam 14 to slice into the deficit, another self-inflicted jammer penalty resulted in another St. Chux non-lead power jam. Conner posted a 23-8 strike and SCDC’s lead swelled to 95-63 with 9:15 left in the half.
Image Credit: Lipstick Lezgo
Brandywine clawed its way back into contention over the next seven minutes and tied the game 102-102 following Slamshine Annie’s 15-point jam with 2:30 left in the period. The Belligerents regained the lead, 105-102, following a three-pointer scored by Buenas D. A$$ in the half’s penultimate jam.
In the period’s final jam, Brandywine’s Lemon gained lead and scored a dozen points but the surge was soured with a pair of penalties. As a result, SCDC’s Conner was able to collect ten. The 12-10 final jam that favored Brandywine gave the Belligerents a 117-112 lead at intermission.
The Pack In Back’s blocking battalion, paced by Pixie Dust-Ruction, Whip L’Ash, Big Red, Tara Eyes, Joanie Rollmoan, 50 Shades of Pink, Zombie F-Bomb, Sha’Killa, Slaughter Haus and Darth Maully, maintained pressure on the opposition in the second half.
SCDC evened the contest with the period’s first jam as Knight-N-Gale’s five-pointer resulted in the game’s third tie, 117-117.
After Brandywine posted four in the next rotation, Sugar Shock collected eight points in jam 3 and flipped the scoreboard back to St. Chux’s favor, 125-121 with 26:15 left.
Image Credit: Lipstick Lezgo
St. Chux pushed the score to 142-126 with 18:40 left but Brandywine regained the lead in jam 10 as A$$’ 19-1 jam flipped the scoreboard back in favor to the Belligerents, 145-143, with 16:50 left.
As the period continued, the tenth seed widened its lead and sported a 200-175 edge with 7:40 left.
Via another non-lead power jam, St. Chux slashed into the deficit as Knight-N-Gale’s 19-5 strike with 5:10 left made Brandywine’s lead shrink to eleven points, 205-194. Freakout followed with a trey to make the score tighter, 205-197 with 4:10 remaining.
Brandywine responded with ten points over the next two jams. Lemon’s two-pointer was followed by eight from Annie and the Belligerents pushed the score to 215-197 with 2:05 left.
On the game’s penultimate jam, Brandywine’s A$$ was called for an forearm penalty, resulting in SCDC’s fifth power jam of the period. After Knight-N-Gale collected a grand slam, A$$ exited the penalty box but was whistled for illegal procedure. As a result, another power jam was awarded to St. Chux. When the dust had settled on the rotation, Knight-N-Gale finished with 14 points overall, SCDC narrowed the score to 215-211 and A$$ remained in the penalty box with :16 left.
The ensuing power start for St. Chux in the game’s final jam resulted in Knight-N-Gale grabbing lead as the period clock expired. With 1:30 left in the jam clock, Knight-N-Gale scored a grand slam and called it, resulting in the five point pass that gave SCDC the solo-point win in the tourney’s fifth place game, 216-215.
St. Chux capitalized on Brandywine jammer miscues as the Belligerents had 14 jammer penalties while SCDC had only three.
Knight-N-Gale finished the game with 81 points followed by Conner’s 63. With its three wins collected at Cleveland, St. Chux finishes the season 5-9.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX (216): Jedi Knight-N-Gale 81, Conner 63, Psychokid D Freakout 50, Sugar Shock 18.
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.
