The No. 32 Cincinnati Rollergirls Black Sheep narrowly defeated the No. 33 Nashville Rollergirls All-Stars, 225-198, on August 17 in a fast-moving game that was a tale of two halves: One that showed dominating defense from the Sheep, and one in which penalty trouble nearly cost them the game.
The Sheep took a 3-0 lead in the first jam with Wheezy wearing the star, while the Sheep’s blockers held up opposing jammer Four Leaf Roller for nearly a minute. Nashville’s Britches N’Hose tied the score in the next jam and the score remained 3-3 in the third jam, but that was the last time the score was tied.
A power jam for K. Lethal in the next jam put Cincinnati ahead 17-3. The Sheep then went on to outscore the All-Stars nearly 3-1 in the first half, thanks to a combination of power jams and a few naturally high-scoring jams by Wheezy and K. Lethal. At the same time, Cincinnati’s strong blocking corps – including standouts Hannah Barbaric, Nuk’em, Penn Tupanga and Ruff’n the Passer – repeatedly forced out, contained and re-engaged Nashville’s jammers.
At halftime, the Sheep held a comfortable 125-44 lead, but the All-Stars made some key adjustments in the second half at the same time that the Sheep fell into both blocker and jammer penalty trouble. Nashville’s game-changer was Union Jack-U-Up, who had one scoreless appearance toward the end of first half but jumped into the regular jammer rotation in the second half. She scored 83 of the 154 points that Nashville put up in second half, 62 of which came from power jams.
Nashville chipped away at Cincinnati’s lead, and by the second to last jam, only 20 points separated the teams. Nuk’em began that jam by herself against four blockers on the line but successfully held Britches N’Hose to just four points, and the jam ended with the score to 211-195 in Cincinnati’s favor.
At the start the final jam, each team only had two blockers on the track. With help from blockers Sailor Scary and candyKICKass, Cincinnati’s K. Lethal got the critical lead jammer status and breezed through the micro-pack for a final 14-point jam, while Zip Drive put up just 3 more points for Nashville. With the crowd on their feet, Cincinnati took the win, 225-198.
In the opening B-team bout, Cincinnati’s Violent Lambs fell to Nashville’s Brawl Stars, 356-125. The teams shared a roughly equal number of lead jams and penalties in the first half, after which the score stood at 103-59 in the Brawl Stars’ favor. But the Lambs’ blockers ultimately could not contain the Brawl Stars’ skilled jammer rotation of Ann T. Histamine, Chelsea Dagger and Phantom Power. The Lambs’ jammers – vets Sista Shovechild, Cherry Choke and Hot Slice, plus rookies Tru D. Vicious and Sprint Julep – were unable to put up enough points to make up the deficit.
That was the Lambs’ last scheduled game of the season, while the Black Sheep will spend the next two weeks preparing for the WFTDA D1 Playoffs in Fort Wayne, IN from September 6-8. For more information, click here.
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