Late Rally Results in St. Chux Derby Chix Win

(ST. PETERS, MO) — At Matteson Square Gardens Saturday night, the St. Chux Derby Chix, ranked #68 internationally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), capitalized on a 26-0 late-bout rally and defeated #20 Arch Rival, 187-183, in a public scrimmage.

The exhibition bout was non-sanctioned by the WFTDA, meaning that the end result does not apply to each league’s respective future calculated rankings. However, the SC/DC win was impressive to the 475 in attendance. St. Chux is classified as a Division 2 league in the WFTDA, whereas Arch Rival is classified as Division 1.

Photo Credit: Jeff Higgins

Rankings applicable or not, the four-point win by the “Pack in Black” was huge for its league.

“I’m absolutely overwhelmed,” said SC/DC jammer G.I. Jamie after the bout. “We never thought that we were going to win. You never go into a game thinking that you’re going to win. They’re great competition, but we definitely felt it tonight.”

Knowing full well that the bout would be non-sanctioned, Arch Rival utilized the scrimmage as an opportunity for recently added skaters to gain valuable track time prior to its March 22 WFTDA-sanctioned opener at #8 Windy City. Three absent starters from this season’s line-up, and reconfiguration overall due to skater retirements from last year’s squad, gave Arch Rival’s fresh faces a chance to prove themselves.

“We had a completely different line-up,” reflected Arch Rival’s Brickyard afterwards. “We were missing one of our jammers and a couple of our blockers, so we went into the night just seeing what we could do together as a team.”

Things seemed to go as planned, and projected, for Arch Rival early. Up 19-11 seven minutes into the bout, ARRG went on a 26-0 run to stretch its lead to 45-11 with 18:35 left in the first period.

However, SC/DC countered with a 54-19 run over the next ten minutes. Punctuated by G.I. Jamie’s 24-point power jam scored with 8:10 left in the half, the Pack in Black whittled Arch Rival’s lead to a single point, 66-65.

Both teams traded nine-point strikes on the next two rotations and then SC/DC flipped the scoreboard to its favor, 77-75, following Flash’s three pointer scored with 3:00 left in the frame.

Photo Credit: Jeff Higgins

Arch Rival went on an 18-0 run, paced by Brickyard’s 12-point power jam, to conclude the first period and possessed a 93-77 advantage at intermission.

St. Louis’ lead was short-lived as St. Chux regained the lead, 119-106, following Jamie’s 14-point power jam with 22:15 remaining.

Arch Rival countered with a 33-6 run over the next three jams. IDA the Living Dead’s 15-point power jam scored with 16:40 left gave Arch Rival a 139-125 lead.

Following a 4-4 push in jam 8, SC/DC capitalized on a power jam. A full ARRG penalty box resulted in a 20-point strike for Jamie and a 149-143 lead change in favor of the Pack in Black with 13:05 left. Eight unanswered points scored on the next two rotations pushed the SC/DC margin to 157-143.

With 10:00 left, Jamie was sent to the penalty box for a track cut, resulting in a power jam for Arch Rival. Brickyard’s 29-point strike ensued, which gave St. Louis a 172-157 lead.

Arch Rival widened the margin over the next three jams and maintained the lead, 183-161, with 5:10 left to play.

SC/DC, however, saved its proverbial best for last. A 26-0 bout-shifting run was launched by Flash’s five-pointer scored with 3:00 left. Jedi Knightengale tacked on four during the bout’s penultimate jam to whittle ARRG’s lead to a baker’s dozen, 183-170, with 2:00 left.

Then on the bout’s final jam, SC/DC’s Jamie raced to the front and grabbed lead. During her second scoring pass, Arch Rival’s jammer was called for a track cut and sent to the penalty box. Jamie went on to notch a 17-point power jam on the final rotation, resulting in a 187-183 come-from-behind victory for SC/DC, who improved to 2-0 overall with the non-sanctioned win.

“Tonight was a really hard-fought battle,” said SC/DC blocker Whip L’Ash after the bout.  “We fought tit-for-tat, but we just executed just a little bit better.”

Jamie paced St. Chux scoring with 80 points, followed by Flash’s 42. SC/DC’s Pack in Black continues WFTDA-sanctioned play with a road bout against #85 Old Capitol City on Saturday, March 15 in Iowa City, IA.

For Arch Rival, even though the four-point non-sanctioned loss stung a bit, they did realize that Saturday’s scrimmage was valuable and will look for ways to make the missing pieces fit prior to its March match-up with Windy City at UIC Pavilion in Chicago.

“We had a lot of penalties,” said Brickyard, who finished the bout with 95 points. “I think we know that’s why we lost, so we now know what to work on before we play bigger teams.”

Regardless of the outcome and its interpretation, both squads benefited from the exhibition and its mutual admiration for each other showed post-bout.

“We’re really grateful to ARRG for coming out to play us,” said L’Ash. “We love them so much. They’re where we want to be.”

SCORING:

ST. CHUX DERBY CHIX: G.I. Jamie 80, Flash 42, Jedi Knightengale 36, Vixen Ta Getcha 18.

ARCH RIVAL ALL-STARS: Brickyard 95, IDA the Living Dead 65, Sleazy E 20, Chokehold Chanel 8.

For more information on both leagues, go to stchuxderbychix.com and archrivalrollergirls.com

In the exhibition opener of the two-bout event, SC/DC’s Hell’s Belles defeated Confluence Crush, 242-90, to improve to 2-0.