In a nail-biting finish, the Cincinnati Rollergirls’ Black Sheep lost to the Steel City Derby Demons Steel Hurtin’ by just 10 points on May 14, 146-136, after CRG’s Silent Lambs lambasted the Ohio Valley Roller Girls All Stars, 234-18, and set a new scoring record.
Black Sheep vs. Steel Hurtin’
The Steel Hurtin’s win was their first over the Black Sheep, who last defeated the Pittsburgh team in 2009, 127-106. The teams are now ranked similarly in their respective regions, with the Sheep in the No. 5 spot in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s North Central Region (and unofficially 18th worldwide by Derby News Network) and Steel Hurtin’ at No. 6 spot in the East (14th worldwide by Derby News Network).
After early jammer penalty trouble for the Sheep, the Steel Hurtin’ led by an average of nearly 28 points for most of the game. At the half, the score stood at Steel Hurtin’ 74, Black Sheep 48, after an 18-point scoring run by the Sheep helped narrow a deficit that was 45 points at its biggest point.
The Black Sheep took the lead for the first time in the sixth jam of the second half. After Steel Hurtin’ jammer The Shocker went to the box on a major track cut, Black Sheep jammer Hannah Ouchocinco capitalized on the power jam opportunity to score 24 points for the Sheep, bringing the score to 85-82 in the Sheep’s favor and the crowd to its feet.
But the Steel Hurtin’ took the lead again in the very next jam, 91-86, after ’snot rocket science earned lead jammer status. After more jammer penalty trouble for the Sheep, the Steel Hurtin’ began to pull away again, and the score stood at 128-117 in Steel Hurtin’s favor with just 3 minutes left in the game.
In the next jam, Steel Hurtin’ jammer Mean Burrito was sent to the box, allowing Wheezy to score 19 points and put Cincinnati in the lead again, 136-133. But Wheezy went to the box herself toward the end of the jam, springing Mean Burrito free.
In the final jam of the game, Steel Hurtin’s Hurricane Heather took the jammer line alone. When Wheezy returned to play after serving her time in the box, she was almost immediately sent off again after being called for a high block major penalty. Hurricane Heather’s subsequent 13-point power jam gave the Steel Hurtin’ the win, 146-136.
High scorers for the Sheep were K. Lethal with 48 points (3.69 points per jam), Hannah Ouchocinco with 44 points (4.4 points per jam) and Wheezy with 33 points (3.67 points per jam). Sk8r-Kinney led the Sheep blockers with 16 offensive and defensive actions, followed by Nuk’em with 14 and Trauma with 10. High scorers for the Steel Hurtin’ were Hurricane Heather with 66 points (6 points per jam), ’snot rocket science with 32 points (3.2 points per jam), The Shocker with 28 points (2.55 points per jam) and Mean Burrito with 20 points (10 points per jam). Athena led the Steel Hurtin’ blockers with 27 offensive and defensive actions.
Silent Lambs vs. Ohio Valley
In the opening 40-minute game, CRG’s Silent Lambs took on the Ohio Valley Roller Girls All Stars, who are playing their inaugural season. Ohio Valley managed just 14 points in the first half against the more experienced Silent Lambs, who put up 122 points in 20 minutes after several big jams, including a 35-point power jam by Hop Devil.
Ohio Valley would only score 4 more points in the second half while the Lambs scored 112 more to bring the final score to 234-18. That broke the Lambs’ previous record of 220, set last year in an away game against the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls’ G-Rap Atttack.
High scorers for the Lambs were Hop Devil with 81 points (13.5 points per jam), Nastee with 80 points (16 points per jam), Miss Print with 47 points (9.4 points per jam) and Hot Slice with 26 points (5.2 points per jam). Polly Rocket led the Lambs blockers with 9 offensive and defensive actions, followed by Kitten Kicker with 8 and Killian Destroy with 7. For Ohio Valley, Sween Machine scored 11 points, Debbie Scary and Skankasaurus Lex each scored 3 and Hot Beef Injection added 1. Kat Von D’stroya led the Ohio Valley blockers with 19 offensive and defensive actions, followed by Want Ssmore with 8 and Grenadrienne with 6.
The Sheep’s record now stands at 2-3 on the season while the Lambs’ record is 3-1. The teams’ next games are away: The Lambs play Demolition City Roller Derby’s all-star squad, the Dynamite Dolls, in Evansville, IN on May 21 and the Sheep play the Jet City Roller Girls’ Bombers of Everett, WA in Nashville on May 22. The next home double-header is June 4 at the Cincinnati Gardens against the Windy City Rollers.