OHIO FALLS JUST SHORT IN INDY, 140-163
At the end of Saturday’s bout in Indianapolis, the announcer proclaimed it “the most exciting bout” the Naptown Tornado Sirens had all year. Unfortunately, it was not as exciting as the Ohio Roller Girls (4-2) would have liked. Penalties were nearly Ohio’s salvation: Naptown (5-1) accrued thirty-one of them, against just eighteen for Ohio. But like the proverbial double-edged sword, it was penalties at key moments in the bout that led to Ohio’s doom.
Naptown stormed out of the gates, running up a 39-8 tally in the first ten jams. Ohio stopped the bleeding behind power jams by Kitty Liquorbottom and The Smacktivist, then climbed back into the game by hard-fought increments. An eighteen-point, five-on-two power jam by Zee “Loraine Acid” Gulertekin brought Ohio within eleven points with just under two minutes left in the first half, but Siren jammer Maiden America finished off the half two jams later with a nine-point run, and Naptown led 83-67 at the half.
Ohio came off the line breathing fire in the second half. Ohio’s penalty kill, behind ferocious blocking by Lora “Outa My” Wayman and Ena Flash, kept the Siren jammers at bay while the Ohio jammers slashed through the opposing blockers en route to a 41-26 run. Kitty, who would end up with seven leads on fifteen jams (47%), turned two leads into fifteen points, and a winding ten-point power jam by Acid cut the Sirens’ lead to thirteen. A fourteen-point run two jams later by Bigg Rigg completed the rally; Ohio trailed by only one point, 108–109, with just under twenty minutes to go.
Although there was no way to know it at the time, the bout was decided only two jams later. The Naptown blockers sprang Maiden America early, then put up a strong wall, forcing Ohio jammer Kitty out of bounds. Kitty was subsequently called for a back block as she re-entered the track, and Maiden America took advantage, scoring on three passes for a 15-point jam and pushing the Sirens’ lead to 131-108.
Ohio fought back again, getting to within twelve points (127-139) on a Kitty power jam in the thirteenth, but that was as close as they would come the rest of the bout. Naptown won the lead on the next three consecutive jams and pushed the lead back to 31 points. Wayman, Acid, and Sk8Crime did a fantastic job of limiting Siren jammer G Rocket to only five points after a forearm penalty on The Smacktivist in the eighteenth jam, but the real damage was done by the clock; there were only thirty seconds left by the time the jam ended. When Maiden America squeezed by the Ohio defenders to claim lead jam in the nineteenth, the bout was over and Naptown had won, 163-140.
The Smacktivist led Ohio in jamming, toeing the line eighteen times and winning the lead on twelve of those (67%).
In the end, there was a lot for the Ohio Roller Girls to like about their performance – they dominated the middle portion of the bout thanks to timely jamming and incredibly strong penalty killing. But a slow start and two key penalties in the second half ultimately cost them the victory.
Ohio Roller Girls All Stars
0125 Paige Bleed | 10 Lora “Outa My” Wayman | 1098 Amy Spears | 12 Kitty Liquorbottom | 138 Sarah Bruce | 19 Texas Chainsaw Sasskicker | 1993 Bratislava Bruiser | 33 Hop Devil | 365 The Smacktivist | 451 Burnadeath | 50 Sk8 Crime | 59 Zee “Loraine Acid” Gulertekin | 815 Bigg Rigg | ICU2 Ena Flash
Naptown Tornado Sirens
13 Amooze Booche | 99 Deadie Page | 7 Dora the Destroyer | 316 Eve Anne Hellical | 614 G Rocket | 3130 Lethal Vixen | 95 Mutant Jean | 177 Penn Tupanga |237 Scorpiopathic | 1980 Shiva Diva | 5PM Trudy Bauchery | 84 Wham Bam | 218 Asian Sinsation | 76 Maiden America
Written by Darth Brooks. Contributions by Sweet Maully.
Photos courtesy of Tom Klubens.
