Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
(BALLWIN, MO) The final regular season games for Arch Rival Roller Derby (ARCH) and GateKeepers Roller Derby (GKRD) Saturday night at Midwest Sport Hockey saw winning factions net high-ticket attractions heading into their respective trophy games later this month.
In both contests, hard-charging squads on quads prevailed over the defending champions. In the women’s opener, the Smashinistas topped the Stunt Devils, 232-207, and in the men’s nightcap, the Central West Friends bested the Raiders of Forest Park, 149-78.
Re-matches for titles will occur on Saturday, April 22 at Queeny Park as the Stunt Devils seek a “three-peat” while the Raiders eye a second straight prize.
ARCH: SMASHINISTAS 232 STUNT DEVILS 207
The Smashinistas, who finished the ARCH regular season perfect at 4-0, claimed the 25-point duke thanks to a 37-0 rally deep in the contest.
“We put a lot of stress on working together and tightening up on the issues that we had on our previous games and I think that showed tonight,” assessed Smashies’ jammer Bolt Action afterwards. “We were executing on the things that we have been working on.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Leading 21-13 four jams deep, Smashies’ scoring lynchpin Harmony Killerbruise collected a 13-4 rotation at the 22:30 mark that pushed her team’s lead to 34-12. They pushed the lead to 40-19 after Killerbruise snared a four-pointer with 18:30 left in the frame.
The Stunts Devils then slashed the deficit as jammer Bricktator collected a 26-11 non-lead power jam at the 15:50 mark that narrowed the Smashies’ lead to 51-45. Then following a Stunts’ solo point snare in Jam 11, the squad netted a power start and Psychokid D’ Freakout produced a nine-point rotation that handed the Stunt Devils a 55-51 scoreboard flip with 13:20 left in the half.
The lead was short lived as the Smashies claimed 18 straight points over the next two jams. Smarty McFly jammed a 14-point turn and Killerbruise followed with four with 11:05 left in the frame that handed the Smashinistas a 69-55 advantage.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Paced by the blocking of Shear-Ra Powers, Nox, Beaver Knievel, Bruise Almighty, Fletch A Sketch, Hakuna Renata, Goldie Blocks, Pegasass, Joan of Spark, Ophelia Bottoms, Wonder Thighs, Cruella Belle-ville and Hardcore Parkour, the Stunts managed to whittle the deficit and only trailed 71-63 with 7:30 left in the period.
Then during the last four jams, the Smashies made a 58-29 push thanks to the blocking of McFly, Salty, Shimmy Hoffa, Cloak N’ Drag-Her, Rumbledore, Holliver Fist, Birdsong, Rock Slobster, Wicked Witch of the Midwest and Detta.
Salty’s 14-point power jam claimed with six minutes extended the Smashies’ lead to 85-63. After the Stunts’ D’Freakout scored eight points with 4:30 left, Flash then contributed a 23-pointer on the period’s penultimate jam that resulted in a 108-71 lead for the Smashinistas at the two-minute warning.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
An entertaining 21-21 push that was accumulated by the Smashies’ Killerbruise and the Stunts’ Bricktator in the period’s final jam resulted in the Smashies’ 129-92 lead at intermission.
In the second half, the Stunts whittled away the differential and with a 22-7 run over the first seven jams, narrowed the score to 136-114 with 21:20 left in the game.
But as soon as the daredevils made ground, the Smashies quickly widened the differential. Salty’s 25-12 jam at the 20:05 mark pushed the score to 161-125.
The Smashinistas sported a 183-147 lead with ten minutes left and then produced the aforementioned 37-0 rally that secured victory. Bolt Action’s 24-point collection with 9:40 left was followed by McFly’s nine-pointer and a four-spot from Killerbruise that extended the Smashies’ lead to 220-147.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Stunts utilized late power jams from Knievel and Bricktator that made the contest intriguing on the scoreboard but the Smashies held onto the 232-207 victory for an undefeated regular season finish. The squad is primed for snaring their first local title since 2014 and will review the digital highlights from Saturday in order to prepare.
“We want to focus on footage,” said Bolt Action, who topped Smashies’ scoring with 66 points. “We just want to tweak the things that we didn’t execute perfectly tonight.”
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Killerbruise added 57 points while Flash and Salty contributed 43 and 42, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Stunts’ missive is to hone game play if they covet a “three-peat” at Midwest Sport Hockey on April 22.
“I’m still very optimistic that we can take them at championships,” said D’Freakout, who finished with 53 points. “We‘ll tweak a few things and come back in three weeks and be ready.”
For more information on Arch Rival Roller Derby, go to THEIR OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
SMASHINISTAS (232): Bolt Action 66, Harmony Killerbruise 57, Salty 43, Flash 42, Smarty McFly 24
STUNT DEVILS (207): Bricktator 89, Psychokid D’Freakout 53, Aggie Wartooth 20, Beaver Knievel 19, Hakuna Renata 13.
GKRD: CENTRAL WEST FRIENDS 149 RAIDERS OF FOREST PARK 78
The Raiders, the defending champs of the GKRD Turf Wars series, had a short bench heading into the contest and the Central West Friends were able to capitalize thanks to a pair of 30-point runs.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Raiders possessed a 22-7 lead at the 22:30 mark following ScreechAround’s 11-5 rotation.
The Friends then capitalized on a power jam and with Bower Ranger’s 23-7 shooter at the 20:10 mark, CWF claimed a 30-29 scoreboard flip.
ScreechAround’s three point tally on the next rotation handed the lead back to the Raiders, 32-30.
The Raiders extended the tight-scoring affair to 35-30 with 14:30 left but the Friends cobbled a 17-0 run over the next six jams to gain an edge. With scoring passes by Bower Ranger, Last Rites and HEYNONGMAN, CWF claimed a 47-35 lead with 6:45 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Undaunted, the Raiders’ blocking schema, paced by Spin Diesel, Walker Hamilton, Atom Bomb, Arty Panimal, Nate Bower and Dr Dredd, was able to produce a 22-1 run, resulting in Forest Park’s 57-48 lead heading into the period’s final jam.
The final rotation found the Friends’ Last Rites obtaining lead jammer status and his ensuing 20-point jam resulted in CWF’s 68-57 lead at intermission.
The momentum found at the conclusion of the period extended into the second frame and the Friends, paced by blockers by Percy Controll, Monster Jam, the Great Stromboli, SoGo, Cpt. Kramerica, Thrillhouse and Yoshi, churned an additional 17 points uncontested. The Friends sported an 85-57 lead with 24:15 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
CWF maintained a 105-65 lead midway through the half and a 35-0 rally, punctuated by HEYNONGMAN’s 27-pointer, widened the score to 140-65.
The Friends outscored the Raiders, 81-21, in the second period en route to the 149-78 victory and boost its record to 3-1. Last Rites unofficially topped scoring with 48 points with 44 apiece from both Bower Ranger and HEYNONGMAN.
The Raiders (2-2) were paced by ScreechAround’s 26, followed by D. Mouthful’s 26.
For more information on GateKeepers Roller Derby, go to their OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
CENTRAL WEST FRIENDS (149): Last Rites 48, Bower Ranger 44, HEYNONGMAN 44, Monster Jam 8, Cpt. Kramerica 3, SoGo 1.
RAIDERS OF FOREST PARK (78): ScreechAround 49, D. Mouthful 26, Spin Diesel 2.
Here is last night’s Arch Rival post-game interview with Smashinistas jammer Bolt Action and Stunt Devils jammer Psychokid D’Freakout.
