Detroit, MI

By Lois Slain

The Brewcity Bruisers (#9), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, put up a valiant fight against the Sac City Rollers (#8), of Sacramento, California, but the lead remained frustratingly just out of their grasp for nearly the entire game.

Photo by Doninique A. Babao

Both teams seemed to struggle a bit to find their footing in the first half and the game remained close throughout the period, with Brewcity winning the most lead jammer statuses but Sac City scoring the most points.

Sac City ran out to a quick 36-9 lead after the first five jams, but Brewcity reset and began securing lead jammer status over and over. However, every time Brewcity seemed poised to take the lead, Sac City would somehow remain just a few points ahead, such as when Sac City blocker Purdy Grrrl drew a huge hit that took out Brewcity’s jammer and allowed her jammer to steal 2 points. Finally, with about 9 minutes left in the period, Brewcity earned lead status and Sac’s jammer Addy Kontrol was called on a track cut. They took a 68-74 lead with 8 minutes left in the half.

However, Sac City took the lead back in the next jam, coming out on top of a two-minute jam that sent both jammers to the penalty box. Brewcity would get within 1 point of their score but never again took the lead. A power jam in Sac’s favor brought them to a 104-81 lead at halftime.

Much like the first period, Sac started out the second half in control of the first few jams but relentless blocking from Brewcity’s defense kept them from adding many points to their total. In the fourth jam of the half, Latina Heat and The Other White Meat trapped Sac jammer Blue Crush in the pack to allow Stormin’ DaCastle to put up 25 points, bringing them once again within a scoring pass of taking the lead. However, in the very next jam, Sac’s blockers did the same to Jackpot, even thwarting her attempts to pass the star to pivot Latina Heat, allowing Aliethal Weapon to score 30 points and preserving Sac City’s lead.

Those were the only big jams for most of the rest of the game, as the teams primarily traded off 4-0 and 3-0 scoring passes, until the final jam. With Sac leading 205-160 and about a minute left on the clock, Addy Kontrol got lead and Brewcity jammer Jessie Flames was boxed on a track cut penalty. Rather than just running down the clock, Addy decided to go on a final scoring bonanza, adding 24 points to her team’s total and cementing the win.

FINAL SCORE

Sac City Rollers (#8) 229
Brewcity Buisers (#9) 160