WFTDA 2011 North Central Region Playoffs Day 2 Wrap Up

by Garrison Killer

The second day of the WFTDA North Central Region Playoffs was packed full of close bouts and upsets. Top seed Windy City Rollers barely held on in their game against Monumental Mayhem hosts, Naptown Roller Girls, to clinch their spot at Championships and advance to the regional championship game on Day 3. The #3 seed, Minnesota Rollergirls upset #2 Detroit Derby Girls in another nail-biter of a match and also earned a Championships berth.

In the first bout of the day, The Chicago Outfit (#9) took on Mad Rollin' Dolls (#6). After an initial lead by Madison’s cadre of vet jammers (30-10 Madison up after ten minutes), the Outfit’s Lola Blow grabbed a power jam for nine points. The Outfit came as close as within five points in the opening half, but Madison moved ahead by the half, 56-41.

The Outfit jumped into the lead in the second half as Madison’s jammers fell in the penalty box in a flurry of majors and accumulation of four minor penalties. Chicago took the lead in the sixteenth minute on a 34-point power jam by Chicago’s Sweet Mary Pain (102-79) and rode the momentum to victory.

Next, Cincinnati Rollergirls (#5) went up against Ohio Roller Girls (#10). Cincinnati took seven of the first ten lead jams and outscored Ohio 30-16 in the initial fifteen minutes of the bout. Ohio’s Wendra Woman picked up a nine-point jam to bring the game within nine points just after the first fifteen minutes (30-25), but that was as close as Ohio got to the lead. At the half, Cincinnati was up, 66-37.

Cincinnati opened up the gap to over 60 points with about 20 minutes left, and began to play the delay game on their cross-state rivals. Ohio took a stab at a comeback with an eighteen-point power jam by Ohio’s HellionBoi, but Cincinnati’s 1-2-punch of K Lethal and Ouchocinco continued to pull lead jams on the Ohio pack. Ohio fell to Cincinnati at the final, 168-86.

In the third bout of the day, #2 Detroit Derby Girls’ defense held down #3 Minnesota Roller Girls in the opening jams, but Minnesota took an early lead after the five minutes. Fueled by L’exi-Cuter’s 30-point jam, Minnesota’s point gap went as high as 36 points in the opening 15 minutes (44-8 Minnesota up). Detroit took advantage of two consecutive track cut majors and burst back into the lead, only for Minnesota to regain it. However, Minnesota could not stay far ahead and went into halftime up 76-70.

Minnesota continued their small lead into the second half, taking consecutive lead jams several times and holding Detroit’s jammer arsenal from scoring for minutes at a time. Detroit’s Racer McChaseHer regained the lead for her team with fifteen minutes to go, only for them to lose it a jam later. Detroit scored only twice more in the game, and Minnesota scored the victory on patient clock-burning, with the final score at 127 - 106.

In their second bout of the day, The Chicago Outfit took the lion’s share of lead jams over Brewcity Bruisers (#7) in the first 15 minutes of the bout, and went up 41-11. Brewcity struggled to push their jammers through fierce defensive pack play led by Lady K and Smashley Destructo, and, while they made breakthroughs, Brewcity continued to fall behind. At the half, the Outfit extended their lead to 82-41.

Brewcity chipped away at the 41-point lead over the next fi15 fteen minutes, bringing them within 25 points. Milwaukee’s Scooter took a power jam opportunity and thrust through an Outfit pack for a quad slam. With the game at 94-90, and thirteen minutes left to play, Chicago called a timeout and charged back with a triple slam of their own. From there, Chicago was able to maintain their lead and clinched the victory, 129-103.

Next, #8 Arch Rival Roller Girls upset #5 seed Cincinnati to continue on into the consolation bracket of Monumental Mayhem. Cincinnati’s K Lethal and Wheezy built an early, narrow lead over the first 10 minutes as Arch Rival struggled to find their way through well-built walls, but Arch Rival rebounded with a 14-point jam as Mighty Mighty Boston lapped Cincinnati’s jammer Hannah Ouchocinco twice. K Lethal responded with a quick-footed quad slam to regain the lead.

However, Cincinnati started getting stuck behind Arch Rival’s phalanxes and could only score twice more in the half. Arch Rival was ahead 87-58 going into halftime, and Cincinnati could not recover their momentum afterwards. They took the majority of the second half’s lead jams, but Arch Rival’s jammers would always get out before Cincinnati could score more than five points. Arch Rival made use of two power jams (one scoring 19, one 20) to push past Cincinnati’s leads and won the bout, 138 to 98.

In the final bout of the day, tournament hosts Naptown Roller Girls (#4) took on Windy City Rollers (#1). Naptown broke out with an early lead, taking advantage of a Windy City jammer penalty, going up 21-6. Windy and Indy traded leads over two additional power jams with Naptown going ahead at the 15th minute, 42-28. Naptown held the lead to the half, using a laterally-moving pack to hold back the Windy jammers on the initial pass. At the half, Naptown was up 68-51.

Windy City reacted by shuffling their jammer pack, throwing physical jammers in to fight Naptown’s scrum, bringing the game within two points at the 35th minute. Naptown scored a 19-point power jam, but the physical play of Windy City’s scorers and the speed of their pack stole the momentum from Naptown. Windy City got ahead with 14 minutes remaining, and regained the lead after a final power jam by Naptown. WCR’s Jackie Daniels and Bork Bork Bork played the last five jams as part jammer, part blocker to stop any advance by Naptown, and took the win, 128-117.

2011 North Central Region Playoffs Day 2 Results

• The Chicago Outfit (#1) 158
  Mad Rollin’ Dolls (#6) 129
  Chicago will play for 5th place on Day 3; Madison will play for 9th place.

• Cincinnati Rollergirls (#5) 168
  Ohio Roller Girls (#10) 86
  Cincinnati will play for 7th place; Ohio will play Madison for 9th.

• Minnesota RollerGirls (#3) 127
  Detroit Derby Girls (#2) 106
  Minnesota clinched a spot at Championships and will compete for 1st place in the region; Detroit will play for #3 in the region and the third spot at Championships.

• The Chicago Outfit (#9) 129
  Brewcity Bruisers (#7) 103
  Chicago will play for 5th place; Brewcity will play for 7th.

• Arch Rival Roller Girls (#8) 138
  Cincinnati Rollergirls (#5) 98
  Arch Rival will play Chicago Outfit for 5th place; Cincinnati will play Brewcity Bruisers for 7th.

• Windy City Rollers (#1) 128
  Naptown Roller Girls (#4) 117
  Windy City clinches a spot at Championships and will play Minnesota RollerGirls for #1 in the North Central Region; Naptown will play Detroit Derby Girls for #3 and the third spot at Championships.

Full recaps and analysis are available at http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com.

Come back to wftda.com for Day 3 action!