Sacramento, CA

by Lois Slain

The Santa Cruz Derby Girls (6 seed, #25) and Kansas City Roller Warriors (8 seed, #33) went toe-to-toe in an evenly matched battle for 7th Place on the final day of the international 2014 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Sacramento. Santa Cruz’s stalwart defense kept them on top, despite a strong effort from Kansas City.

photo by David Costa

Santa Cruz and Kansas City traded lead jammer status for the first 10 minutes of the game, but Santa Cruz was better able to turn that into points, building up a 29-9 lead while keeping KC to 1 point on more than one jam.

Then, Santa Cruz jammer Queen Litigious picked up a penalty, and Kansas City took advantage of the opportunity, closing the point deficit to 1 with a 19-point jam by JamaLamaDingDong. Santa Cruz took a timeout and came back strong, getting lead and points five jams in a row before Kansas City finally answered back with a 8-point jam by Enigma. With 10 minutes left in the first period, Santa Cruz led 60-36.

The first period ended with a chaotic swirl of penalties. In Jam 20, two Santa Cruz blockers and jammer TARAism picked up penalties in quick succession. When TARAism left the box, she almost immediately received a back blocking penalty and headed straight back. Kansas City came within 14 points of Santa Cruz and began the next jam with a power start for Engima. However, Enigma cut the track just as TARAism returned from serving her penalty time. At the end of that 2-minute jam, Santa Cruz held on to a 74-55 lead.

Kansas City would have more trouble with jammer penalties as the period clock ran down, allowing Santa Cruz to add another 20 points to their margin before heading into halftime. The halftime score was 94-55.

Kansas City came back from halftime with a vengeance, picking up lead jammer four times in a row before their jammer picked up a penalty. However, a Santa Cruz jammer penalty immediately after allowed JamaLamaDingDong to pick up 17 points, bringing the score to 106-82.

The Santa Cruz defense then seemed to find another gear, frustrating all of Kansas City’s jammers and holding them scoreless for seven straight jams. Santa Cruz held a 139-82 lead with about 15 minutes left on the clock.

Not to be deterred, Kansas City finally got lead behind the skates of Peter Babriel, then turning that into a power jam after a high block call on Santa Cruz’s jammer. Santa Cruz limited the damage, with the score at 139-82 after a power jam that spanned two jams. Kansas City barreled across the century mark with two more strong jams before the teams resumed trading lead and points.

Kansas City worked to manage the clock and keep the momentum going, but they weren’t able to gain enough ground in the time remaining. Santa Cruz won 171-122 and took 7th Place in the tournament. Kansas City finishes in 8th Place.

FINAL SCORE:

(6) Santa Cruz Derby Girls 171

(8) Kansas City Roller Warriors 122