LUBBOCK, TX -- In the inaugural bout for both teams, Lubbock's new West Texas Roller Dollz made an impressive debut by taking down the visiting Route 66 Rollerderby of Amarillo, Texas, 141-93.

West Texas took the lead immediately on a 8-6 jam for WTRD's Marie LaRolle over Route 66's Bruiser Chassis, and they would never relinquish the advantage. Tight pack play led by West Texas captain Lethal Whoopin', Callous Fornication and Slyder consistently stymied the Route 66 jammers. Bruiser Chassis, jamming for Route 66, seemed to be the only jammer able to get the better of the West Texas defense -- on Jam 4, she went 4-3 over Mulisha Maiden for Route 66's first jam win of the game, on jam 7 she went 4-0 over Slyder, and on jam 10 she pulled out a 4-2 over Hotwhlzz. Those three jams were the only times in the period that Route 66 got wins, though, and by the end of the first West Texas was pleasing their new fans with a 61-33 lead.

The second period got off to a bit of an awkward start, as Route 66 jammer Scarstruck went down from a hard Lethal Whoopin' block and couldn't get back up -- not from the force of the hit, but from the fact that her skate had become hopelessly entangled in the boundary tape. The jam was called (allowing for a spectacularly rapid fixing of the boundary, which led to the first time this reporter has ever seen an audience ovation for the floor crew) and Scarstruck was able to notch a 2-0 over Slyder in the reset. However, West Texas hit back hard with two demoralizing jams for the visitors -- a 9-4 for Hotwhlzz over Bruiser Chassis, and then a big 8-0 for Slyder over Whoopi Nass.

The score stood at West Texas 78, Route 66 39 at that point, but Route 66 had a short rally, getting three small-margin jam wins in a row to close to within 30 at 86-56. However, Route 66 had a costly miscue setting up for the following jam -- their jammer Scarstruck went to the the wrong line, setting up at the the middle of the straightaway instead of the jammer line. She realized her mistake before the jam started, but not in enough time to scramble to the jammer start line before the whistle -- and so had to sit out the full 2 minutes. Her defense managed to mitigate what could have been a potential disaster, with Route 66 blocker Alicia Slaughterstone being a significant factor in keeping WTRD jammer Marie LaRolle to only 8 points in the unopposed jam, but Route 66 had lost all the ground they made up in their rally. A few jams later, the home team had inched over the century mark as the period closed, up 102-60.

Route 66 needed a big rally in the final 20 minutes to get back in the bout, but the final period played out almost exactly like the first two -- again, Bruiser Chassis was usually able to eke out small jam wins, with fellow jammers Fyrebones and Scarstruck contributing slightly more this time around -- but all the lopsided wins went to West Texas. Slyder dropped a 4-0 on Fyrebones to start the period at WTRD 106, Route 66 60, Hotwhlzz lapped Scarstruck on a 5-0 fourth jam that pushed the score to WTRD 119, Route 66 70, and with about 6 minutes left, Marie LaRolle had the biggest jam of the afternoon with a 9-0 over Whoopi Nass that made the score WTRD 135, Route 66 86. The bout came to an end two jams later on a chaotic 4-4 jam between Mulisha Maiden and Bruiser Chassis that saw a bone-jarring sharp-angle block on Chassis from Lethal Whoopin' -- Lethal was sent to the box for what was called as a clockwise hit, but the hometown crowd seemed to love it. Final score -- West Texas 141, Route 66 93.

Stats

Marie LaRolle was the scoring star of the evening, bringing in 58 points on 10 jams for West Texas. That was good enough to let her lead in all jammer stats -- she had the highest average points per jam with 5.8 and the best jammer point differential with a very impressive +34. WTRD's Hotwhlzz (9 jams, 34 points, +8 JPD) and Slyder (8 jams, 27 points, +11 JPD) were also quite effective. Scoring was rounded out by Lily Von Schmack (2 jams, 8 points, +4 JPD), Mulisha Maiden (3 jams, 8 points, -4 JPD), Callous Fornication (2 jams, 4 points, +1 JPD) and Goodnight Kiss (2 jams, 3 points, -6 JPD.)

Bruiser Chassis was the engine for Route 66, putting up 55 points on 14 jams -- more than the rest of her teammates put together. She was also the only Route 66 jammer with a positive point differential, sporting a +9. Also wearing the jammer star for the visitors were Fyrebones (8 jams, 20 points, -6 JPD), Dropkick Mauly (2 jams, 7 points, -9 JPD), Scarstruck (6 jams, 7 points, -13 JPD), Whoopi Nass (5 jams, 4 points, -26 JPD) and Big Red (1 jam, 0 points, -4 JPD.)

West Texas doesn't take much of a break to celebrate their first win -- they'll be on the road in Jackson, Mississippi, facing the 8 Wheeled Mafia local team from Capital City Roller Derby on March 29. Route 66 currently does not have another interleague bout scheduled.

Photography: spotted.lubbockonline.com