Milwaukee, WI

By Shelly Shankya

In the last of the quarterfinal games, #1 Salem seed, the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls, lined up against the Asheville #3 seed, the Windy City Rollers. The B.A.D. Girls started the game cleanly, getting only two penalties in the first 15 minutes of the game, as Windy City gave up two power jams in the opening seven jams. The penalties started to even out, however, as the period progressed.

Photo by Jules Doyle

With unified blocking power that dominated the Windy City jammers, the skaters in black and gold glittered their way to the semifinal game later in the evening, to play against Gotham Girls Roller Derby.

A 23-point power jam for Bay Area from jammer Nock Nock put the women from San Francisco on the board, followed by 20 more from Lulu Lockjaw and Nock Nock made the spread fall in BAD’s favor early, 63-11. Blockers Amanda Jamitinya, Murderyn Monroe and Demanda Riot kept Windy City jammers at bay; the Bay Area blockers played with efficiency and cohesion, so tight not even the most agile of Windy jammers could get through.

“We hold a lot of trust in our teammates, and we work to shore up each other on the track so that when we need it we can help others in the wall,” B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls’ captain and blocker Brawllen Angel said. “We work to read the pack and make timely plays when our jammers need us.”

B.ay A.rea hit a road bump in the jams 10-12 as jammer Chantilly Mace went to the box for a cut track, followed by another cut track just as she entered play. After Mace managed to make it back the track as the team’s jammer, Nock Nock went to the box for a major back block. During the three back-to-back power jams, Windy City pulled off 45 points, 15 from Jackie Daniels, 20 from Sandrine Rangeon, and 10 more from Killa Nois. The work from Windy City brought the team close to B.ay A.rea’s score, 63-56.

After their few jam push to catch B.ay A.rea, things cooled off for Windy, as the ladies in gold allowed only 8 points in the closing seven jams of the first half. The period ended with B.A.D. up 109-64, despite a near equal split on penalties, 13 for B.ay A.rea and 12 for Windy City Rollers.

“I think [what made us successful] we kept our penalties low, and we were very careful not to spend time in the box,” Brawllen Angel said. “We focused on clean play. When we played [Windy City] earlier in the year, we got higher penalties, so we spent time studying their plays and working on our mental game. Really, it was focusing on the mental game and clean play that made the difference tonight.”

Photo by Steve Jurkovic Photography

The second half started with as much fervor as the first, and Windy worked to claim a strong foothold in B.A.D.’s dominate lead, narrowing the 62-point lead to only 23 points in the eighth jam. In the fourth jam, BAD used their 4-2 pack advantage to keep Windy jammer Ying of Fire in the pack for 1:30 as blocker Kristi Yamagotcha led the other three blockers with solid communication and recycling efforts. Even Windy’s squirrely jammer Sandrine Rangeon got stuck behind B.A.D.’s blockers Brawllen Angel and Dolly Rocket, held for 45 seconds as Brawllen forced a track cut, giving jammer Bricktator the opportunity to score 25 points. The team’s explosive offense during the power jam set the tone for the last minutes of the game.

In fact, due to the blocking and jammer prowess of B.A.D. Windy remained scoreless from jam 14 until jam 23, when Windy scored 7 points in the final minutes of the game. Bay Area continued to exploit their lead, finishing the game 230-135.

“I’m so excited to play Gotham,” Brawllen Angel said. “I’ve been dying to play them all year, and I can’t wait.”

Final Score

B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls (Salem #1) 230
Windy City Rollers (Asheville #3) 135

B.ay A.rea moves on to play Gotham Girls Roller Derby in the Saturday semifinal game at 8:30 pm CST.