Detroit, MI

By The Oxford Commakaze

The Boulder County Bombers (#7) of Longmont, Colorado, found their first win of the weekend as they toppled the Brewcity Bruisers (#9) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to claim 9th Place at the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Detroit.

“I knew they were a good opponent. Coming into it, we knew more what to expect,” said Boulder’s Feist E. One. “Last year coming in as a new team to Playoffs, we didn’t really know what to expect and the level that we were playing at. ... This year, we were more prepared.”

Photo by Danforth Johnson

That preparation paid off as Boulder jumped into the lead in the first jam, 16-4, as blockers from both teams found that these jammers would require more than little taps to go out of bounds, with both jammers staying upright and in bounds absorbing block after block. The score gap remained fairly close in the first 10 minutes of play as both teams tested the other’s skills, trading points nearly each jam for a 44-24 score.

As Boulder’s jammers hit their stride, its blockers also seemed to have Brewcity’s number, holding the team scoreless for nearly 10 minutes thanks to devastating defense from CatastroPhoebe and Trixie von Tease while racking up 59 points of its own. Offense from Brewcity’s Grace Killy helped Skully Wheeler get her team’s first lead jam status and put its first point on the board in six jams, a one-point jam she had to shut down before Boulder’s Smashalotopus could catch up. Brewcity put points on the board in five of the next seven jams and closed the half with 12 points from pivot-turned-blocker Strykher as she took a star pass just before Boulder’s lead jammer Feist E. One went to the penalty box for a two-minute jam, but Boulder was simply putting the points up faster, closing the half 135-46.

Brewcity started to gain speed in the second half with a quick four-point jam with both jammers fighting their way through full packs, but Boulder tried to nix that momentum right away with a 14-point power jam for Smashalotopus immediately after. But Brewcity had its wheels rolling and responded with points for five jams in a row, including stealing 3 points in the only jam of the next five in which it did not gain lead jammer status (although Boulder promptly stole four points on a Brewcity-led jam just two jams later) to nearly double its points from the first half in ten minutes, bringing the score to 153-81.

After a brief timeout to regroup, Boulder posted 10 unanswered points in under a minute as Brewcity fumbled a star pass, slowing its ability to force a call-off. A successful official review by Brewcity put Boulder jammer Smashalotopus in the box for an uncalled cut in the previous jam right after, though. This opened the door for a two-jam, 17-point scoring run despite Boulder blocker Sauce’s jammer-harrying efforts, bringing the score difference down to 65 points with half the period left.

“I really think that in the locker room we came together as a team and we were able to focus on the positives that we saw,” said Brewcity jammer Stormin’ DaCastle about her team’s second-half comeback. “It really doesn’t help to look at the things you did wrong. We were able to come together and look at what we wanted the game to look like and the end of the tournament to look like, and we were able to capitalize on that.”

The game stayed tight for the next few minutes as the teams traded high-scoring point runs, including an impressive 17-point turn from Brewcity pivot-turned-jammer StrykHer after lead jammer Skittle passed the jammer star to her, forcing a two-minute jam and making StrykHer the second-highest scorer for Brewcity despite never starting a jam as a jammer. But Boulder still managed to edge Brewcity a few points at a time, pushing back to an 80-point lead for a 222-142 score with less than two minutes left in the game. Brewcity gave one last challenge with a five-point jam for Skittle, snagging the point of a Boulder blocker returning from the box as she called on her second pass before hitting the pack, and froze the clock with six seconds aiming to grab one last scoring run, but a track cut by its jammer gave Boulder’s Feist E. One lead jammer status and a chance to put up unanswered points before deciding to call the jam.

Final score

Boulder County Bombers (#7) 232 9th Place
Brewcity Bruisers (#9) 147 10th Place