FEASTERVILLE, PA -- The last of the ECE's 20 WFTDA bouts continued to redefine the power balances in the East. Event hosts Philly would have been forgiven for coming into this bout with a little confidence. They'd just taken down the highly respected #7 Windy City squad 92-76 on the previous night, and on the previous weekend, Madison had gone down by 58 points to the same Windy City. But Madison stayed in it to the very last minutes, forcing Philly to scramble for their 106-93 win.
It was neck and neck for the first ten minutes, until Philly's Mo Pain capitalized on a Chop Suzzy trip to the penalty box for an 11-0 that gave Philly a 26-9 lead. From then on it was perfectly punch-for-punch, as the next six jams went 4-0 Madison, 4-0 Philly, 3-0 Philly, 3-0 Madison, 5-0 Madison and 5-0 Philly.
Madison's Jewels of DeNile finally broke the stalemate with a big 14-0 over a penalized Violet Temper, and then Darling Nikki put Madison back in the lead with a 4-0 that made it 43-42 Madison -- but Gloria Grindem gave Philly halftime momentum with a 4-0 that ended the half at Philly 46, Madison 43.
Philly kept trying to shake Madison loose as the second half started, but every time Philly opened up some space Madison would close it again. A 62-47 lead for Philly three jams into the half was quickly whittled away to a 66-64 margin with the help of Jenny Knoville dropping a grand slam and 7-0 on Violet Temper. A strong Philly pack led by Olivia Face and Teflon Donna clamped down on the next jam, giving Mo Pain the opportunity for a 13-0 win over Back Doris, and the lead was back to 15 with 16:50 to play.
But again, Madison wouldn't go away, closing to 89-81 with 7 minutes to play. The comeback was marked by a remarkable play from Madison jammer Mouse, who got out of the pack first but without lead -- when opposing jammer Gloria Grindem was awarded lead, Mouse turned back and appeared to taunt Gloria into considering racing her instead of calling it off at 0-0. Gloria thought better of it an instant too late, as Mouse was able to pass one Philly blocker just as the jam-ending whistle blew -- therefore picking up two more penalty box points for a highly unlikely 3-0.
Still, the chance for an upset would slip away in the next five minutes. Mo Pain got an easy 4-0 as three Madison blockers were either in the box or on the way to the box as she made her scoring pass. Next, Carrie A. Hacksaw, jamming for Madison, pulled the reverse of Mouse's move by getting lead behind her opponent Robin Drugstores but dithering too long on calling the jam, giving Robin a 2-0. And finally, Philly's Teflon Donna played her jam against Dolly Pardon Me absolutely perfectly, bleeding time off the clock with a slow approach to the pack, making her move for lead jammer after laying a hit on Dolly, and then sweeping through the pack for a 4-0 that got a huge roar from an appreciative home audience.
Madison's last chance came with 2:50 on the game clock, the score 99-81 and Mouse going up against Mo Pain. They needed a big jam -- and while both jammers were declared not lead, the jam ended early and mysteriously during their first scoring pass, costing Madison a critical 30 seconds between jams that they couldn't afford to let expire. One truncated jam later, Philly improved to 4-0 in ECE play with their 106-93 win.
Photo: shotsbypalloni
