Expo Bout Recap: PRG Heavy Metal Hookers 91, CCRG Junkyard Dolls 88
Posted by Justice Feelgood Marshall on January 29th, 2008
FEASTERVILLE, PA — An intense back-and-forth exhibition battle between Charm City’s local team the Junkyard Dolls (3rd place in the 2007 CCRG season) and Philly’s local Heavy Metal Hookers (4th place in the 2007 PRG season) featured 5 second-half lead changes on the way to a thrilling conclusion, as the home Hookers ended up on the right side of a 91-88 nailbiter.
The Dolls managed to pull lead jammer status on the first four jams of the night, but with the Hookers jammers almost always right behind them out of the pack, they could only turn it into a 7-2 lead — the Hookers’ blockers Ivana Rock and Robin Drugstores were key elements in that, usually forcing the Dolls’ jammers to call off the jams during their first scoring passes. The visitors’ advantage was erased quickly on jams 6 and 7 — first, the Hookers’ Wendy Whiplash got lead and blanked Pistol Whip in a quick 4-0 jam, and then Felony Griffith, up against the Dolls’ Cherrylicious, was taken down illegally by Joy Collision during her opening pass but managed to recover, take lead and put up another 4-0, giving the Hookers their first lead at 10-7.
The Dolls Stormin’ Mormon got the lead back for her team a few jams later in a thrilling 3-1 frame that saw Mormon call the jam in mid-air as she was knocked to the floor trying to pass the last Hooker. That put the score at Dolls 12, Hookers 11, but the next jam would prove, in retrospect, to be the game-winner.
With 18:30 to play in the first half, Teflon Donna went to the jammer line for the Hookers against Harlotte’s Webb for the Dolls, and made mincemeat of a scattered Dolls defense — first, she pulled a crowd-pleasing lead jammer call by faking Joy Collision right off her skates as she broke the pack, and as Harlotte’s Webb got her fourth minor and went to the box early, Teflon made three full scoring passes. Her 15 points were more than either team had scored up to that point in the game, and the Hookers were up 26-12.
Still, though, the Dolls impressively managed to slowly but surely turn the momentum back to their side. After Tef’s big 15-0, the Dolls only lost three out of the remaining 12 jams in the period, cutting into the lead with small-margin jams — up until the last jam of the period, where Cherrylicious went up against Felony Griffith with the scoreboard showing Hookers 36, Dolls 30. Cherry took advantage of a strung-out pack while Felony had all sorts of trouble getting through the Dolls, and Cherry picked up two grand-slam points for a 10-1 jam that put the lead back in the visiting team’s hands at halftime, 40-37.
The Hookers’ ace jammer Teflon Donna was back on the line to start the second half, and with Dolls Coach Ballbricker and Harlotte’s Webb starting the half in the penalty box, she had little trouble getting the Hookers back in the lead with a 5-0 over Cherrylicious. It was the beginning of a 20-4 Hookers run over the first five jams of the period (with Teflon scoring 18 of those points!) that threatened to bubble over into a rout, as the Hookers built a 57-44 lead with about 20 minutes left in the bout.
Once again, though, the Dolls dug in their heels and began to scratch out a series of 2 and 3 point victories that eventually put them in a position to capitalize with 11:34 left to play. Hookers jammer Felony Griffith was tied up by Dolls pivot Joy Collision during her opening pass and eventually committed a fourth minor, and Dolly Rocket, jamming for the Dolls, scooped up 8 points in her absence, taking the lead back at Dolls 72, Hookers 70. However, Dolly committed her own fourth at the very end of that jam, and in the next frame it was Robin Drugstores jamming for the Hookers and dropping a 10-0 on the Dolls as Dolly watched the entire jam from the box, making it Hookers 80, Dolls 72.
The neck-snapping momentum swings wouldn’t stop there, as Dolls jammer Cherrylicious absorbed a monster hit from Ivana Rock as Cherry broke the pack pass but still managed to remain on her skates, claim lead and put up a 8-3 over Shenita Stretcher for the Hookers. The Dolls took lead jammer on four crucial jams in a row, ending with Joy Collision outracing Teflon Donna in a battle of superstars and pulling out a 4-0 punctuated by a sensational cut to beat Hookers’ blocker Val Halla. That put the Dolls ahead yet again on the bout’s 8th lead change, 86-83, with just 2:40 left to play.
The Hookers needed a couple of good jams immediately, and they got them. Felony Griffith would take advantage of a 4 on 2 Hookers advantage in the pack to get lead and go 4-2 over Dolly Rocket, making it just a one point game at Dolls 88, Hookers 87. Not having much time left to seal the deal, the Hookers went to their best jammer again, sending out Teflon Donna to face off against Cherrylicious, and Tef got the job done textbook-style 4-0 (with an assist from her defense keeping Cherry locked up for a crucial extra few seconds in the pack.)
With 49 seconds remaining on the clock and the scoreboard showing Hookers 91, Dolls 88, the Dolls called a timeout, knowing they’d need every last second on the clock and lead jammer status to win the game. In a jammer battle between Dolly Rocket and Wendy Whiplash, Wendy would get the all-important lead jammer call out of the pack — and though Dolly would race maniacally to catch up for her scoring pass, she couldn’t do anything about Wendy patiently waiting to call the jam until she was in scoring distance. Time ran out for the Dolls on a true crowd-pleaser, and the Hookers started off 2008 on the right foot, winning 91-88.
The Hookers’ Teflon Donna was easily the scoring star of the bout, picking up 41 points on 12 jams and scoring nearly all of them at pivotal points in the bout. She led the Hookers’ jammers in positive point differential, with a gaudy +34. For the Dolls, the scoring stats were slightly more spread around: Cherrylicious overcame a slow start (she was shut out until the final jam of the first half) to lead her squad with 26 points on 10 jams. Joy Collision (11 points) had the best point differential with a +10. While Stormin’ Mormon didn’t lead in any stat categories, she made an impressive showing of her own in a position she does not often play, picking up 18 points on 8 jams.
Next up for the Hookers is another local-team interleague faceoff — on Saturday March 15, they take a shot at the Debutante Brawlers from Carolina Roller Girls. Charm City’s 2008 intraleague season is not yet scheduled.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
It was Wendy Whiplash on the last jam of the bout…not Mandawar.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Oops — thanks for the correction!
January 30th, 2008 at 8:56 am
ISTM that some of the exciting, high-scoring, jams were due to some confusion on the application of rule 6.5.2.2. But since it’s a rule that I don’t like, thats fine with me. It creates IMHO a perverse incentive to commit minors when two teamates are in the penalty box. After being waved off of the penalty box, a skater can rejoin the pack with her “minor count” reset to zero.
January 30th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
No, the officials knew what they were doing. Philly doesn’t use the penalty box cap rule for their intraleague games; since Charm City doesn’t either and this was just an expo bout that wasn’t for rankings, both teams (and ref squads) agreed to waive the rule. (In the interest of full disclosure: I was running scoreboard for this game, not working on the track.)
Not sure what you’re talking about with the last sentence, though; when 6.5.2.2 is in effect, skaters don’t get their minor count reset to zero if they happen to commit their fourth while the box is full; they have to return and serve their time as soon as a spot opens up for them. See rule 6.1.4.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Thanks for the explanation! That makes more sense.