Detroit, MI

By The Oxford Commakaze

For most of the first half of the 1st Place game at the 2015 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Detroit, it looked like the Nashville Rollergirls of Nashville, Tennessee, had a clear handle on the path to the top seed at the Division 2 Championships in November. Not to be discounted, however, the Sacred City Derby Girls of Sacramento, California, kept things interesting with a two-point gap at halftime, seven lead changes in the second half and a narrow five-point lead with just seconds on the clock for the last jam. In a last-second power jam to flip the score, Nashville gathered just enough points to flip the lead and end the game in first place.

Photo by Alexei Dodson

After a scoreless first jam as both jammers fought tight packs focused on hard defense, a power jam gave Sacred’s Ariel-LA-Twister a 10-0 mid-jam lead thanks to effective offense from Gnar Gnar BInks -- but a lead change came just seconds afterwards as Nashville jammer Chelsea Dagger won the jam by putting up 13 points after springing from the box as her blockers held Sacred at bay. Fast hit-and-quit jams dominated the early game as Sacred kept the game within four points for the first eight minutes, but a massive 33-0 power jam for Nashville’s Lady Fury, later named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, busted the door open for Nashville’s first chance at a wide lead, bringing the score to 52-15.

Sacred tried to catch up with a power jam of its own and a few low-scoring jams, but the lead remained stubbornly out of reach thanks to Maulin Monroe’s unrivaled possession of the inside line helping Nashville carry a 20-point lead halfway through the period. Although Sacred kept Nashville from totally running away with the score, jammer Zip Drive’s uncanny ability to slip through barely-there gaps widened the gap just a little more, and Nashville wound up with a 97-57 lead.

With just minutes left in the half, the pieces slid into place for Sacred to mount its first real comeback of the game: four lead jams in a row, power jams, shutdown defense and more than one single-footed jumping spin by Sacred jammer 4closer inched the team to a tantalizingly close halftime score of 99-97 in Nashville’s favor.

Photo by Alexei Dodson

It took just one jam into the second half for Sacred to regain the lead it held so briefly in the second jam of the game with a hit-and-quit 4-0 jam, but just one jam more for Nashville to wrest the lead back as pivot Electra Cal dragged Sacred’s jammer back on the inside as Nashville jammer Chelsea Dagger sprinted through for another four points to re-establish its two-point lead. Nashville widened its lead in low-scoring fits and spurts in the next five minutes, but one nine-point jam by Ariel-LA-twister as she took advantage of a diminished Nashville blocker pack was enough to bring it back within one point. Nashville jammer Phantom Power earned a gross misconduct after the whistle as she slid out and took Nashville jammer Ariel-LA-Twister out at the ankles, which gave Sacred the opening it needed to pounce on the lead as 4closer pulled out nine more points. A chaotic next jam followed with what felt like every penalty in the book getting called out at least once, but Sacred clung to its lead and occasionally added a point to it in subsequent jams, but Nashville snatched points wherever it could to bring the score to a tenuous 139-150 with half the period remaining.

One two-minute jam later, that lead swung to Nashville’s favor by two points again when a two-minute jam was forced when both jammers sustained penalties within seconds of each other and both jammers were able to take advantage of penalty-plagued packs, but a second penalty to Sacred’s jammer left the gap Chelsea Dagger needed to capture the lead for Nashville. A Sacred power jam threatened Nashville’s lead in the next jam, but Nashville’s shutdown defense held Sacred jammer Ariel-LA-Twister to just two passes as Nashville jammer Lady Fury sprinted around to make up the difference and come out on top of the jam, 13-9.

With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Nashville had edged a fragile 177-167 lead. Sacred held Nashville scoreless for two more hit-and-quit jams to bring the score back within three points after a pass by 4closer, but she crossed a toe stop over the line while calling off the jam to give Nashville a power jam and regain its 10-point lead, 184-174. Barely three minutes remained on the clock, but Sacred had time for one more go at the lead with as Ariel-LA-Twister launched herself at Nashville’s blockers to grab 14 points for a 184-188 lead. Nashville’s Chelsea Dagger busted out for lead in the next jam, but had to call it off with Pink Freud hot on her heels to retain the score, and a lead jam call for Sacred’s Ariel-LA-Twister added a point to Sacred’s score as she called the jam off with 38 seconds remaining. Using its last timeout, Nashville lined up knowing it needed just two passes to take the lead back -- and when Ariel-LA-Twister went to the box for Sacred on a forearm penalty right as Nashville’s Lady Fury emerged from the pack as lead jammer, Nashville got exactly those two passes as Lady Fury wove through blockers before the power jam could expire, calling the jam off with a final score of 194-189 in Nashville’s favor.

Both teams will still advance to the 2015 WFTDA Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will have a shot at the Division 2 Champion title, thanks to the new D2 bracket structure this year.

Final Score

Nashville Rollergirls (#1) 194 1st Place
Sacred City Derby Girls (#2) 189 2nd Place