Detroit Bout Recap: Devil’s Night Dames 151, Pistolwhippers 138
Posted by Rusty Wheeler on November 11th, 2007
In a rematch of the two teams who battled for the 2007 Detroit Derby Girls championship, the runners-up of 2007, the Devil’s Night Dames, outscored last season’s champs, the Pistolwhippers, to win a wild shootout by a 151-138 score. While this season-opener featured plenty of bone-jarring hits, it also saw most lead jammers declining to call off jams after they had scored to prevent the other team’s jammer from scoring. Instead, the lead jammers almost always went around for another pass. And in spite of some fast-skating packs, the jammers were absolutely whizzing around the track at an intense pace, consistently putting up multiple scoring passes on their way to a high-scoring night.
The very first jam of the game set the tone of what was to come. The Whippers’ Killbox matched up against the Dames’ Rock Candy, and the jam was scored 7-7. Then it was the Dames’ Racer McChaseHer besting lead jammer Del Bomber 9-4 with a grand slam in jam 2 to give the Dames a 16-11 lead. In the 4th jam, the Dames’ Vicious Vixen, in her first jam of the game, outscored Kat Von D’Stroya 12-4 with two grand slams. Vicious did finally call off the jam when she was floored by a vicious hit by the Whippers’ Holly Crap. That gave the Dames a 31-18 lead. In jam 7, Killbox got tossed in the box with a major penalty for wiping out the Dames jammer Dire Skates on a large hit, but it allowed the Dames’ Honey Suckit to get lead jammer and score a 4-0 jam. After 12 jams total, the 1st period ended in favor of the Dames, 49-40.
The Dames’ Summers Eve-L tries to hunt down the Pistolwhippers’ Honey Suckit. Photo credit: Filthy Luka
The second period was even more high-scoring than the first. The Dames worked to get their fans in a frenzy by roaring their slogan “Burn it down!” but it was the Whippers who were on fire to start the period. In the 1st jam, the Dames lost their lead jammer, Lady Macdeath, to the box, so the Whippers’ Honey Suckit then proceeded to rack up three grand slams on her way to a 16-0 jam. Honey adroitly didn’t call the jam with the opposition being jammerless, but skated hard for the full two minutes, even passing on the inside right at the very end of the jam to score a couple of more points. That put the Whippers in front for the first time in the game, 56-49. The 2nd jam was Killbox vs. Racer again, and that jam was a 12-12 affair. But then instead of burnin’ it down, the Dames put out the Whippers fire in the next three jams, outscoring the Whippers 11-0 to regain the lead at 72-68. Vicious Vixen pulled off another outstanding jam for the Dames in jam 6, outscoring Diesel Doll 13-0 with two grand slams, to make it 85-73 in favor of the Dames. But the Whippers weren’t through. Killbox scored a 10-0 jam over Racer in jam 8 when Racer went to the box, cutting the Dames lead to 85-84. Jam 9 saw the Whippers’ Diesel Doll outscore Vicious Vixen 7-4 to put the Whippers back in front 91-89. Unfortunately for the Whippers, Diesel was sent to the box immediately after the jam, as apparently she had picked up a 4th minor penalty. In the ensuing 10th jam of the 2nd period, the Whippers were sans jammer and the Dames’ Rock Candy scored a 3-0 jam to once again flip the score to the Dames favor, 92-91. Then Racer McChaseHer continued to bedevil the Whippers, storming to a 9-0 jam in jam 11 to give the Dames the lead, 101-91. There was one final jam in the period, but with only 30 seconds on the clock there was no scoring to close the period with the Dames holding a 10 point lead.
The 3rd period started off a bit more defensively than the first two periods. In the first four jams of the period the Dames added 15 points to the Whippers 9, and then in jam 5 the Dames’ Lady Macdeath pulled herself off the track, and skated slowly around the track towards her team’s bench, holding her left shoulder. When she got to her bench and took a knee, the refs quickly called off the jam and the EMTs got to work on Lady. Eventually Lady had her left shoulder wrapped in elastic bandages and she was wheeled off for a trip to hospital for an appointment with a doctor. It was reported after the game that Lady did indeed suffer a broken collarbone. It should be pointed out that the Detroit derby scene does an excellent job at handling injuries, and skater safety is of paramount importance. After the injury was attended to, the announcers reported that the Dames’ Racer McChaseHer had racked up another 5-0 jam on that jam, making the score 121-100 for the Dames. After the somewhat lengthy delay for Lady’s injury, Racer skated two more consecutive jams, scoring zero and nine points in them and giving the Dames a commanding lead at 130-104.
Dames pivot Rock Candy jockeys for position with Pistolwhippers’ blocker Holly Crap. Photo credit: Filthy Luka
But yet the Whippers were not through. Skating as befitting the 2007 league champs, Honey outscored Vicious 9-1 in jam 8 and Killbox bested Vicious 5-0 in jam 9 to cut the Dames lead to 131-118. Racer struck back and appeared to ice the game for the Dames in jam 10, outscoring Del Bomber 12-8 to make it 143-126 for the Dames with only a few minutes remaining in the 3rd period. But again the Whippers countered in jam 11, with Killbox going 12-1 over Vicious to make the game 144-138 in favor of the Dames. Now the Whippers fans were frantic with anticipation, whilst the Dames fans were in danger of falling off the edges of their seats. With just enough time for one final jam, the Dames would manage to hold on as they sent out their ace Racer McChaseHer, and Racer easily outscored the Whippers’ Cassie Corridor 7-0 to salt away the game for the Dames, 151-138.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year, Racer McChaseHer, led the way for the Dames by scoring 78 points, breaking her old league record of most points in a game (75, set in her debut bout as a Detroit Derby Girl.) That final jam also put her over 600 career points (counting both regular league and travel team points), making Racer the first DDG skater to attain that mark. Ex D-Funk Allstar Vicious Vixen was also a standout for the Dames, tallying 44 points and playing some determined defense, punishing many Whippers with devastating hits. Vicious had played 14 previous games overall with the DDG, and had only scored six points on five jams.
Over on the other bench, the Whippers’ Killbox put up a extraordinary performance in a losing effort, jamming to the tune of 63 points. It was her personal best, the 5th highest point tally in any DDG game, and served to put her over the 400 points career mark. Killbox also delivered many hard hits in the game, proving again why she is one of the best two-way players in the DDG.
No mere photo caption could possibly do justice to Detroit referee Tootie Tinwhistle. Photo credit: Filthy Luka
Scoring by period: Dames 49-52-50 (151); Whippers 40-51-47 (138).
Jammer stats (unofficial):
Dames: Racer McChaseHer (78 points, 15 jams,8 leads, 3 slams); Vicious Vixen (44 points, 10 jams, 3 leads, 5 slams); Rock Candy (24 points, 8 jams, 5 leads, 1 slam); Dire Skates (5 points, 2 jams); Lady Macdeath (0 points, 1 jam, 1 lead).
Whippers: Killbox (63 points, 10 jams, 6 leads, 2 slams); Honey Suckit (43 points, 14 jams, 7 leads, 5 slams); Diesel Doll (12 points, 3 jams, 1 lead); Del Bomber (12 points, 4 jams, 1 lead); Kat Von D’Stroya (4 points, 1 jam); Cassie Corridor (4 points, 3 jams, 1 lead).
The next Detroit Derby Girls home game is Saturday, December 8, featuring the Detroit Pistoffs vs. the D-Funk Allstars. The action takes place in the Drill Hall at the Masonic Temple, 500 Temple St, Detroit, MI. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Note the new time for all DDG games: Doors open at 6:00 pm, games start at 7:00 pm. Check the website at detroitderbygirls.com for the latest info about the Detroit Derby Girls games and appearances.