Windy City Wins 2011 North Central Region Playoffs!

by Garrison Killer

The third day of the WFTDA North Central Region Playoffs served up another full day of closely matched bouts. Host league Naptown Roller Girls (#4) secured the third spot in the WFTDA Championships after a close win over #2 Detroit Derby Girls. Windy City Rollers secured the #1 seed for the region after fending off a tough challenge from the Minnesota RollerGirls.

The first bout of the day saw #6 Mad Rollin' Dolls take on #10 Ohio Roller Girls. After a flurry of lead changes early in the first half, Ohio took the lead in the tenth minute by taking advantage of three consecutive visits to the penalty box by the Dolls’ jammer Mack the Knife. Ohio scored 30 points in those five minutes, kept that low by the blocking of Madison’s Mouse and Busta Crimes. However, Madison could not find their momentum after that first assault, only coming as close as 18 points by the end of the half, Ohio 59-41 Madison.

Ohio extended their lead over a series of four power jams in the first 15 minutes of the second half, taking them to 114-52 over Madison. Madison’s pack kept the game from going out of control by outrunning the Ohio defense on scoring runs, but they could not overcome their own jammer penalties. Madison brought it within twenty points on the last jam off of retiring skater Chop Suzzy’s apex-jumping triple slam, but Ohio took the win and 9th-place.

In the next bout, Milwaukee’s Brewcity Bruisers (#7) scored 24 unanswered points in the opening minutes against #5 Cincinnati Rollergirls. Within the first 15 minutes, Brewcity opened up their lead to 44-10 as Servin Justice, Moby Nipps, and the Brewcity defense delayed Cincinnati’s jammers. Cincinnati did find an opportunity to score on a Brewcity jammer penalty late in the first half (scoring fifteen points), but the first half was largely the march of Brewcity’s array of jammers. Milwaukee took a healthy lead into the second half, 77-29.

Cincinnati awoke and pushed for a comeback in the second half with the assistance of seven Brewcity jammer penalties throughout the second 30 minutes, scoring over 50 points on power jams. However, those were almost entirely the only points that Cincinnati took in the second half, and Brewcity kept pace when their jammers weren’t cooling their heels in the box. Brewcity managed their pack speed, blocked at velocity, and took the win.

The bout for 5th place was a rematch from earlier in the tournament, between The Chicago Outfit and Arch Rival Roller Girls. The Outfit went ahead early in the bout, outscoring Arch Rival 29-7 and taking the first seven lead jams. Arch Rival began to score lead jams, but they had difficulty keeping the Outfit from scoring. Arch Rival’s saving grace in the first half was a series of three power jams that took them to a tie (63-63) in the 25th minute. The Outfit’s jamming staff then took consecutive leads and gave them the lead at halftime.

Arch came from the locker rooms blazing and outscored the Outfit, coming within four points of Chicago at the 40th minute. However, the Outfit scorers wouldn’t be stopped, out-juking Arch Rival-heavy packs and taking lead on six of the next eight jams. The game remained close until Lola Blow scored eighteen points on a power jam and increased the point margin to 35 with ten minutes remaining. The Outfit pack kept up the pressure, and took the win and 5th-place.

The #2 seed Detroit Derby Girls took an early, significant lead over #4 Naptown Roller Girls in the opening ten minutes of the 3rd-place bout. Going 35-0 (including a 14-point power jam by Detroit’s Cookie Rumble), Detroit’s size advantage was causing 4th-ranked Naptown’s smaller crew no end of issues. Fatal Femme and Racer McChaseHer built walls that seemed insurmountable, while Racer led from the jammer line. Naptown’s Amooze-Bouche finally broke through on a triple slam and Naptown began to climb out of their hole. At halftime, Detroit had only a slender lead, 65-49.

Naptown took the lead minutes after the second half started when Amooze-Bouche scored 14 points unassisted by a power jam. Naptown’s pack had found its rhythm and began to hold back the smaller Detroit jammers. Leads changed several times, and Racer McChaseHer fueled a Detroit rally, taking the lead at 113-95 with twelve minutes to play.

Naptown’s Dora the Destroyer then dropped an unassisted triple slam on Detroit as her pack held back opposing jammer Boo D Livers. One Naptown lead jam later, Naptown went ahead, 112-110. Racer retook the lead with seven minutes to play, 115-114, but Blue Messiah and Maiden America took it right back. With three minutes left to play, Amooze-Bouche pushed the lead one mite further, and Detroit’s jammer Cookie Rumble went to the box at the end of the jam. With only a minute remaining, Naptown’s Maiden America ran out the clock. Indianapolis scored the victory and a trip to the Championships.

In the South Central Region Championship bout, Minnesota RollerGirls took the lead early against regional leaders Windy City Rollers, taking the first three jams and scoring seven unanswered points. Windy City responded with a fast, solid moving wall of defensive play, putting the Minnesota team on the back foot. Windy City–having taken the lead in the fifth minute–had serious foul problems that Minnesota could not capitalize on because of an inability to burst through WCR’s speeding pack.

Minnesota came back into the lead at the close of the half on a Harmony Killerbruise triple slam. At halftime, MNRG was up 53-41. A change in jammer rosters at halftime brought Jackie Daniels into heavy jammer rotation for Windy, and Jackie went 5-for-7 on her lead jams. Windy City got back into the lead on a Daniels-fueled 15-point jam and took advantage of two power jams to score 28 additional, unanswered points. Windy City kept up their concentration on speed of the pack and went 82-45 in the second half, taking the #1 spot in the region for the third consecutive year.

2011 North Central Region Playoffs Day 3 Results

• Ohio Roller Girls (#10) 138
  Mad Rollin' Dolls (#6) 118
  Ohio moves up one spot to #9; Madison drops four spots to #10.

• Brewcity Bruisers (#7) 157
  Cincinnati Rollergirls (#5) 99
  Brewcity drops one spot to #8; Cincinnati drops two spots to #7.

• The Chicago Outfit (#9) 153
  Arch Rival Roller Girls (#8) 113
  Chicago moves up four spots to #5; Arch Rival moves up two spots to #6.

• Naptown Roller Girls (#4) 136
  Detroit Derby Girls (#2) 125
  Naptown advances to #3 in the region and wins a trip to Championships in Denver; Detroit slips two spots to #4.

• Windy City Rollers (#1) 123
  Minnesota RollerGirls (#3) 100
  Windy City holds their #1 spot in the region heading into Championships; Minnesota advances one spot to #2.

Photo by Marc Lebryk

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

Learn more about the 2011 Big 5 tournaments!

The WFTDA 2011 Championships, Continental Divide and Conquer, are hosted by the Denver Roller Dolls November 11-13 in Broomfield, CO.