LUBBOCK, TX – WFTDA’s newest league, the West Texas Roller Dollz of Lubbock, TX, scored their first victory over a WFTDA-ranked team by thumping Dallas’ 42nd-ranked Assassination City, overcoming a rocky start to double Assassination City up by halftime and then holding on for a solid win in front of 1200 fans at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Arena.
While WTRD was not a WFTDA team at the time of the bout and therefore the bout was not sanctioned for ranking purposes, they were officially added to the organization as the 57th member league three days later — and were one of the youngest leagues to do so, having had their first public bout just six months ago in March.
Assassination City Roller Derby’s Pyro Maim Ya was making her return to the track after a leg fracture, while the newly rostered Bad Mamma Jamma and Miley Virus were making their derby debut on the ACD side.The West Texas Roller Dollz were missing Mulisha Maiden due to an ankle sprain.
The first jam on the night started with ACD’s Harassiz Mine lining up on the jammer line along with Marie LaRolle, and first blood went to the visitors as Harassiz Mine started strong racking up 5 points while holding Marie LaRolle scoreless. For the first five jams, the experience of the Ass City girls was prevailing, as they would hold a small lead — but WTRD stuck with them. Jam 2 ended 13-7, Jam 3 15-7, Jam 4 17-12, Jam 5 20-16 and then the West Texas crew finally caught Ass City on Jam 6 at 20-20.
Jam 7 started with Herassiz Mine again on the line while Hotwhlzz started in the box. WTRD’s blocking posse of Rollin’ Atkinson, Twanda, Scary-Go-Round and Smokin’ Enjen was able to hold Herassiz Mine to just 2 points, while Hot Whlzz came out of the box hot and scored 1. While Assassination City still was holding the lead, 22 ACRD to 21 WTRD, that defensive performance seemed to mark a turning point in the bout. On the following jam, West Texas’ Slyder outskated Miley Virus to a tune of 8 points while Miley only earned 4. The jam ended with West Texas in front for the first time with a score of 29-26, and from that jam on the WTRD’s Skatan’s Angels led the bout.
WTRD stayed in control of the game and on Jam 10 Lily Von Shmack scored 8 points while Miley Virus spent most of the jam in the penalty box. Miley re-entered the track, although just as quickly Lily called off the jam leaving her unable to score and opening the lead up to WTRD 40, ACD 29.
Jam 11 was the highest-scoring jam of the night for West Texas with Marie LaRolle battling it out against Mona Bruiser. Marie ended with a huge 13 point jam while Mona trailed with 3 points, leaving the score WTRD 53, ACD 32. The Dollz remained on their game as they held Ass City scoreless for the last three jams of the half while putting up 16 more of their own. The 30 minute period ended with the score 69-32 for the home team.
Second Half
ACD suffered a significant second-half loss when Herassiz Mine did not return to play due to a knee injury, but they came back with a vengeance and dominated the floor in the half’s opening jam. Miley Virus came out scoring 9 points to make it their strongest jam of the evening. WTRD’s Lily Von Shmack was held to a minimal 1 point against the blocking power of Sloan Gunman, Mia Hammer, Mona Bruis’r, and Vanna Rockin’. At the end of Jam 1 the scoreboard read 70 WTRD to 41 ACD.
The second jam started out looking just as dismal for West Texas when WTRD Jammer Wild Wookie was sent to the penalty box after receiving her 4th minor, leaving Red Hot Rage unopposed against only three WTRD blockers — but by the end of the jam, the tables had completely turned. West Texas’ remaining blockers Hard Candy, Lethal Whoopin’ and Twanda, held solid, leaving Red Hot Rage scoreless. Wild Wookie served her time and reentered the pack to score a huge 8 points, erasing all the momentum from ACD’s opening jam and leaving the score 78 WTRD 41 ACD.
The Dollz continued to widen the gap on the scoreboard, notably on the half’s seventh jam, where Marie LaRolle once again put up big points, scoring a 12-1 over Mia Hammer. Mia and her crew did get a spot of revenge on Jam 9, though, when Mia scored 5 points while her blockers Sloan Gunman, Miley Virus, Hot Roddin Gin, and Mary Ate Ashley held back Hotwhlzz to a zero point jam, putting the score at 106 WTRD to 58 ACD.
Any hopes that the Ass City girls had for a comeback were snuffed out by WTRD at that point, as West Texas was able to hold them scoreless for the next five jams of the game. They, in turn, held WTRD scoreless on 3 of those jams; both teams had definitely figured out how to stop the other team’s jammers, but with West Texas already holding such an advantage, the low-scoring endgame was just fine by them. The last two jams of the evening put a few more points on the board, leaving the final score West Texas 136, Assassination City 66.
The night’s halftime event marked another win for the home league, as WTRD’s B-team, the Dirt City Dames, took the floor against the Eight Wheeled Mafia from the Capital City Roller Girls of Jackson, Mississippi. WTRD’s “B” Travel Team definitely dominated the bout while CCRG struggled but maintained their team unity with a roster of newer derby skaters — final score Dirt City Dames 80, Eight Wheeled Mafia 44.
Stats
Both team employed a wide variety of jammers throughout the bout. West Texas’ Marie LaRolle was far and away the scoring star of the evening with 54 points on 10 jams, outscoring her opposing jammers by 30 points. Hotwhlzz tossed in 23 points on 7 jams, with a -3 jammer point differential, while Wild Wookie put a lot of space between herself and her opponents, scoring 22 points on 4 jams with a perfect +22 JPD.
Other jammers for West Texas included Slyder (2 jams, 12 points, +8 JPD), Rollin’ Atkinson (2 jams, 11 points, +8 JPD), Lily Von Shmack (3 jams, 9 points, even JPD), and Twanda (1 jam, 5 points, +5 JPD.)
For Assassination City, Red Hot Rage led a fairly balanced jammer attack with 20 points on 6 jams and a -2 JPD. Miley Virus contributed 15 points on 8 jams with a -26 JPD, Mia Hammer put in 11 points on 6 jams with a -15 JPD, Mona Bruiser had a similar night with 11 points on 4 jams and a -15 JPD, and Harassiz Mine, in her single half of play, was the only Ass City jammer in positive differential, getting 7 points on 2 jams with a +6 JPD.
Three Ass City jammers took the star just once: Vanna Rockin got 2 points and a -3 JPD in her turn, while there’d be no points for Hot Roddin Gin (-5 JPD) or Mary Ate Ashley (-10 JPD.)
Ass City’s Special Ops will be at the all-Texas Governors Cup tournament in Dallas on September 21, 2008. WTRD’s next all-star bout finds their Skatan’s Angels taking on the Oklahoma Victory Dollz in Oklahoma on September 27, 2008.
by HaRd CaNdY
