Jacksonville (#10) hangs on, but higher seeded No Coast (#7) prevails

By Shelly Shankya

The second bout of Day 1 of the South Central Regional tournament featured #7 tournament hosts No Coast Derby Girls and #10 Jacksonville Rollergirls.

Photo by Taura Horn Photography

The first several jams were a quick back-and-forth for the two teams, exchanging small points. No Coast's jammer Eva La Speed drew a major back block, sending her to the penalty box and giving Jacksonville a power jam for jammer Crash; she capitalized on the opportunity by scoring 10 points. The tournament hosts, No Coast, regrouped after the power jam and, after 8 scoreless jams, established their lead. No Coast blockers ThickaThanAhSnicka and Brooke N Hearts had powerful defensive holds against Jacksonville jammers and impressive assists to clear the way for the ladies in black and white.

Jammer Slam Anderson had 39 points for Lincoln, while Flash Gloria had 38; Eva La Speed had 22. Jacksonville spread the jammer love between six jammers during the first period; Meow Mix lead the team with 16 points.

The second period opened with No Coast grabbing lead jammer repeatedly, taking four points and calling the jam. The fast-paced jam action hit a brick wall, however, when Lincoln jammer Eva La Speed spent three minutes in the box for three separate, back-to-back major track cuts. Likewise, the low numbers for Lincoln blockrs created a momentum shift for the ladies from Florida. Meow Mix grabbed 10 points, followed by Crash with 10, and then Miley Virus with 14. Those 34 unanswered points weren't quite enough to take the lead.

"We were watching the penalty board, waiting for our chance to come back, and we were ready for some strong power jams," Jacksonville jammer Crash said. "But in the end we made some careless mistakes, and careless mistakes cost us the game."

No Coast stayed solid in the end, holding on to their lead and advancing to play Kansas City in the day's final game. No Coast won 202-133. Jacksonville, in their first appearance at a regional tournament, moves to play in the consolation games on Saturday.

No Coast Derby Girls (#7) 202
Jacksonville Rollergirls (#10) 133