Duluth, MN

Detroit advances to final game after big win over Big Easy

By Vile Love It

The Detroit Derby Girls (Detroit, MI) maybe have come into this tournament as the 2nd seed, but they have seemed determined all weekend to dominate every game. Their game against 3 seed Big Easy Rollergirls (New Orleans, LA) was no exception.

Photo by Jim Dier

Early on in the game Big Easy’s jammers looked tired, like they had played a game earlier in the day. Of course, trying to fight through the endless cycling Detroit walls is enough to make any skater tired.

Detroit played some tough teams this year including London (twice), Bay Area, Rocky Mountain, and Denver. Their 4-6 record might have been what caused them to slip from taking 4th Place in last year’s Division 1 Playoffs in Salem, Oregon, to qualifying this year in Division 2.

On the other side of the track, the Big Easy only played six sanctioned games this year and had a record of 2-4. They lost to Tri City, Glasgow, Twin City and Houston in sanctioned play.

During Saturday’s game Detroit caught more penalties (36) than Big Easy (31) and had double the jammer penalties; 8 to Big Easy’s 4. But similar to the Friday game Detroit played against Brandywine, their solid, almost unbeatable, defense was the name of the game. Detroit was able to lock down Big Easy’s jammers. During non-power jams, Detroit was able to frustrate and distract Big Easy’s blockers so that the Detroit jammers frequently sailed through unnoticed.

At one point about mid-way through the first period Detroit started the jam with one blocker: Racer McChaser. Big Easy had three blockers to hold Feta Sleeze (#45) and get Coalminer’s Slaughter (#650) out for lead jam. But Racer held her. And held her. Feta Sleeze got through for lead and Coalminer’s Slaughter had to chase her.

Big Easy didn’t seem able to read the Detroit strategy either overall or during a jam. Their offensive strategies weren’t working for them and their defense was easily overwhelmed by one Detroit blocker sent to free her jammer.

At the half the score was Detroit 160, Big Easy 50.

Another important halftime score was the fact that Big Easy’s Rock Bottom had already served six penalties while Detroit’s Boo D. Livers and Bruise Siouxxx had four each.

Big Easy seemed to adjust after the half. They kept Detroit to fewer points in the second half (132 points scored) and managed to put more points on the board (65) but they were never able to mount a serious attack against the Detroit game. They couldn’t hold back Detroit’s powerful jammers or break apart—at least not for long—their swirling, cycling walls.

Final score

(2) Detroit Derby Girls 292
(3) Big Easy Rollergirls 115

Detroit moves on to play the Fabulous Sin City Rollergirls of Las Vegas, Nevada, for 1st Place at 6 p.m. CDT Sunday. Big Easy will go up against 1 seed St. Chux Derby Chix in the 3rd Place game at 4 p.m. CDT.