(ST. PETERS, MO) For the primary travel squad of the St. Chux Derby Chix, its play in the first forty minutes against the Arch Rival Roller Girls Saint Lunachix Saturday night at Matteson Square Garden was about as solid as it could get.
Photo Credit: Jeff Higgins
Unfortunately, the final twenty did not pan out as planned as the visiting St. Louis County-based B-team capitalized on a 28-0 late-game surge en route to a 194-122 win over the Pack in Black in exhibition play.
St. Chux saw its pre-season record fall to 1-1 but plans on utilizing lessons learned as the league, currently ranked #57 internationally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), prepares for its hosted “Skate to Thrill” invitational in two weeks.
“What we saw (tonight) is what we can take going into training and seeing what we need to work on,” said St. Chux Captain Jedi Knight-N-Gale after the game. “We know what we need to dial in on, knowing our strengths and weaknesses.”
If there was a bright note to be found Saturday night, it was the fact that the St. Charles County rollers went toe-stop to toe-stop with the developmental squad that is a part of a franchise that is currently ranked tenth internationally by the WFTDA.
Photo Credit: Jeff Higgins
Knight-N-Gale launched the St. Chux scoring with a 10-point, game-opening jam. After both teams traded points in the next four rotations, Pack in Black jammer Darth Maully posted nine with 23:40 left in the period to give SCDC a 26-7 edge.
Saint Lunachix newcomer Salty sliced into the lead with a nine-point strike on the next rotation to shore the score to ten points, 26-16. St. Chux jammer Sha’Killa countered with three with 21:30 left in the period to push her team’s lead to a baker’s dozen, 29-16.
The Saint Lunachix went on a 15-0 run over the next five minutes, resulting in a lead change. Punctuated by ARRG’s Psychokid d’Freakout’s four-pointer collected with 15:15 left, the visitors flipped the scoreboard to its favor, 31-29.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Knight-N-Gale collected a 15-2 power jam rotation with 14:15 left that handed a 44-33 lead back to St. Chux. The Saint Lunachix countered with a 31-0 run over the next three jams and regained the advantage. Blink’s 15-point power jam, four from d’Freakout and a dozen scored by Sleazy E gave the Arch Rival B-team a 64-44 lead with 10:50 left in the period.
The margin would be erased one jam later as SCDC’s Knight-N-Gale notched a 25-5 strike that tied that game, 69-69 with 8:15 left in the half.
The St. Chux blocking battalion, paced by Whip L’Ash, Tara Eyes, Zo. D. Ax, Slaughterhaus, Blue Collar Brawler, Big Red, Conner, Judy Boom and 50 Shades of Pink, helped jammers Pixie Dust-Ruction and Maully notch pivotal back-to-back four-pointers to help the Pack In Black snag a 77-69 lead with 6:20 left in the frame.
Scoring was frenetic down the stretch as the Saint Lunachix clawed back from the deficit, yet St. Chux maintained a 90-87 edge at intermission.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
“We were pretty positive at halftime,” said SCDC’s Knight-N-Gale of her team’s three-point edge.
Meanwhile, the visitors also felt confident.
“They had controlled a lot of the first half, but we had sped up a lot of the pace,” said Saint Lunachix co-captain Psychokid d’Freakout. “We just wanted to get control of our game.”
The Pack in Black’s three-point advantage remained steady four minutes deep into the second period as the hostesses held a 94-91 lead at the 26:30 mark.
Then the Saint Lunachix scored 14 points straight over the next three jams. Bloody Gaga collected four for ARRG with 25:45 left, resulting in a 95-94 lead scoreboard flip. D’Freakout added seven on the next rotation to continue the surge and Sleazy E posted a trey with 23:40 remaining to give the Saint Lunachix a 105-94 advantage.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Undaunted, St. Chux countered the rally with Knight-N-Gale’s 15-point power jam that handed the lead back to the Pack in Black, 109-105 with 21:50 left in the game.
That marked the last time SCDC held a winning score in the contest as the visitors went into overdrive. In the last twenty minutes of play, the Saint Lunachix capitalized on penalties surrendered and outscored the Pack in Black, 79-13.
Bloody Gaga collected an 18-point non-lead power jam for ARRG with 18:20 left to hand the lead back to the Lunachix, 123-109. The margin was stretched to 139-113 following Blink’s 13-point power jam with 14:45 left.
Photo Credit: Jeff Higgins
SCDC narrowed the game to twenty points, 139-119 with 9:30 left, but the Lunachix posted a 28-0 run over the next five minutes to secure victory. Blockers Molotov, Fletch-A-Sketch, Carmina Piranha, Pegasass, Rock Slobster, Girl Fawkes, Snotface, Cruella Belle-ville and Jenforcer paced the rally that inevitably lead to the Saint Lunachix possessing a 167-119 following Blink’s 14-point jam with 4:30 left.
“I think all of our blockers did a phenomenal job,” assessed ARRG co-captain Pegasass. “They created a lot of chaos and confusion against them while keeping our own heads level at the same time.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Saint Lunachix outscored St. Chux, 107-32, in the second half en route to the 194-122 win that gave the B-team its first win of the season. The squad competes on the road against the A-team of Champaign, Illinois-based Twin City Derby on April 9.
“We’re going to focus on very smart defense and offense,” said Pegasass in anticipation of the upcoming road trip.
St. Chux was paced by Knight-N-Gale’s 86 points while Blink topped the Saint Lunachix ledger with 67 points.
SCDC hosts the “Skate to Thrill” invitational at Matteson Square Garden on April 9-10 as the locals have one-on-one match-ups against #41 Chicago Outfit, #56 Ann Arbor and #62 Calgary. A single-day pass for the eight-league, twelve-game event are $15 while a weekend pass is $25.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX (122): Jedi Knight-N-Gale 86, Darth Maully 17, Tara Eyes 8, Pixie Dust-Ruction 7, Sha’Killa 3, Conner 1.
ARCH RIVAL SAINT LUNACHIX (194): Blink 67, Sleazy E 40, Psychokid d’Freakout 36. Bloody Gaga 29, Salty 22
In the twin bill’s opener, the Como Derby Dames from Columbia, Missouri notched a 335-42 victory over SCDC’s Hell’s Belles B-team to improve its record to 1-1.
For more information on St. Chux Derby Chix, go to stchuxderbychix.com.
For more information on Arch Rival Roller Girls Saint Lunachix, go to archrivalrollergirls.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.
