Rat City Rollergirls (#6) snag fifth from Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (#5)

*By Shelly Shankya**

Though the teams have a history, Game 15 marked the first time Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (#5) and Rat City Rollergirls (#6) have met in 2012. It was just as close as people predicted it would be. The tight pack play, both from the scrum start and pivot line starts, made scoring points for either team difficult, but Rocky took lead after the first several jams, despite Rat City making lead jammer the majority out of the 25 jams in the first.

Photo by Donalee Eiri, Photography by D.E.sign

The two teams battled it out, trading points and forcing call offs that resulted in 0-0 jams. Double-digit jams occurred only three times throughout the first half, and Rat City's 19-point power jam from Jalepeno Business marked a lead change that carried them to the half. Rocky's jammer Alpha Q Up started the 25th jam in the box with a jammer switch-out, and then ended the period in the box for a fourth minor. Rat City closed the half with the lead 73-69 knowing they'd begin with a power jam in the second.

"We played Rocky last year at Westerns and lost by 17 points then," Rat City captain and blocker Glitter said.

Rat City held the lead for the first half of the second period until Rocky was able to capitalize on a power jam against Rat City jammer Jalepeno Buisness. Rocky's 13-point jam gave them a 1-point advantage, and the 5280 Fight Club desperately worked to hang on to the lead. They were successful in that quest until Rat City's Kamikaze Kim benefitted from a power jam with only a few minutes left in the game. Kim picked up 19 points, giving Rat City a 16-point margin over Rocky.

Rocky called a timeout after the lead change and again at the penultimate jam yet, despite the time to regroup, the ladies in red were unable to defeat the Rat City Rollergirls. Rat City won 196-171 after Carmen Getsome and Sweet Mary Pain traded 4-4 jams until Pain went to the box for a fourth minor. At that point, Getsome waited out the remaining seconds to win the game.

"We had a rough game against Bay Area this weekend, but it feels good to move up and win the rest of our games this weekend. We wanted to go to Championships, but we're glad we ended the tournament in fifth," Glitter said.

Rat City ends the tournament in 5th Place, while Rocky Mountain drops to 6th in the region.

Rat City Rollergirls (#6) 196 - 5th Place
Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (#5) 171 6th Place