FEASTERVILLE, PA -- Saturday midafternoon's bout between closely-ranked opponents Boston and Rocky Mountain kept everyone on the edge of their seat well into the second half, as both teams battled back and forth with efficient four-and-out jams. The audience was buzzing as the teams ended the first half with Rocky Mountain clinging to a one point lead at 54-53. However, the story of the bout can be told in the phenomenal endurance displayed by Rocky Mountain's astonishing two-jammer rotation, which wore down Boston jam by jam.
The first half was thoroughly even, with both teams grabbing lead jammer in nearly equal proportion, and each enjoying a single lopsided jam. Boston's Sarah Doom ran up a 13-0 score as RMRG's Ida Hustler fumed in the box, while two jams later Rocky Mountain's prodigious Frida Beater repaid Boston with a 15-0 jam on the box-bound Krushpuppy.
As the second half began, it looked as though penalty trouble might allow Boston to begin pulling away. When Frida Beater and Boston's Claire D. Way both landed in the penalty box, RMRG's replacement jammer quickly joined them and left Krushpuppy to push Boston out to a 63-57 lead.
This was the beginning, though, of a 7-jam drought for Boston. RMRG's jammers Frida Beater and She Who Cannot Be Named put up 29 points over that span, and RMRG never trailed after that. Although Boston returned to first-half form and continued to consistently score single-digit jams, they only nabbed lead jammer 22% of the time in the second half.
Boston's defense remained sharp, with the towering Triple Deck-Her and Pussy Venom completely bottling She Who in jam 29 -- but Claire was unable to take advantage and score points until She Who was sent to the box. RMRG's defense returned the favor in the next jam, with Ida Hustler impressively immobilizing Sarah Doom until She Who could return.
Four quick and effective jams late in the second half brought Boston back to within 7, at 90-83, as Claire D. Way, Krushpuppy and Sarah Doom combined for 20 points to RMRG's 4. But Boston's five-jammer rotation grew visibly tired trying to solve the RMRG defense, while RMRG's two jammers appeared to be fresh and ready even as the final buzzer sounded. Whether it was altitude training or inborn endurance, no one missed the effect: excluding two jammerless jams, RMRG only departed *twice* from jamming Frida and She Who Cannot Be Named.
Additional reporting: Slack Kerouac
Photo: GigantiopsBunny
