WFTDA Bout Recap: (u) Sacred City 83, (19) Arizona 75
UPDATE: a previous version of this piece incorrectly stated that Ivanna S. Pankin and Trish the Dish are no longer skating for AZRD -- in fact,they are part of AZRD but did not skate in this bout.
ROSEVILLE, CA -- Both #19th ranked Arizona and currently unranked Sacred City rolled into their game on Saturday, June 7th, with a bit of rocky road behind them. Sacred had had a stellar 2007, winning all of their games except for one, but 2008 hadn't been quite as good to them -- things kicked off with a heartbreaking last-jam loss to Pikes Peak 88-85 that stuck in their craw for months.
Next up they'd participate in 'The Big One', California's first state championship, and managed to get to the championship game before being dismantled by #10 Bay Area (101-30). Finally, on May 3rd, Rat City's Sockit Wenches came to town, and Sacred was able to build a half time lead only see it dwindle away in the second half, allowing the Wenches to win 91-80. Sacred had built itself a complex of getting a halftime lead but then giving it up in the second half.
Meanwhile, AZRD had had a tumultuous six month stretch it would probably like to forget. A league splinter scrambled the all-star roster in the winter, and AZRD would lose punishing games to #1 Kansas City (153-51), #12 Minnesota (87-24) and #14 Rocky Mountain (76-53), causing their ranking drop to just barely remaining in the teens after once enjoying the #4 spot in the nation.
Arguably, no league in the history of flat track has experienced quite the level of upheaval that AZRD has seen over their four-year existence. But things began to look up a bit for AZRD with the return of star jammer Denise Lightning (back from Carolina, where she was a critical component of Carolina's deep runs through the 2007 regional and national tournaments), and the league began yet another rebuild.
On June 7th, in Roseville, California, the two leagues met to do battle, to try and clear away their past and prepare their futures. Sacred controlled the lead for the majority of the bout, but a couple of late Arizona runs made the bout a seesaw affair in the second half. In the end, though, with the help of a stellar performance from Mugshot Mary and some critical late-game heroics from blocker Gaygan wearing the jammer star, Sacred would be the one coming out on top with a hard-fought 83-75 win.
First Half
In the first jam Sacred and AZRD put their best skaters forward. Denise Lightning outscored Sacred's Candy Crusher, but the real battle was between the blockers as each threw their hardest hits at each other in a vain attempt to intimidate the other. The second jam featured Mugshot Mary, Sacred's talented young jammer against AZRD's Gratuitous Violet. The fast Mugshot quickly got 4 points and called it off. The lead swayed back and forth between the two teams and at the end of the fifth jam the score stood tied 17-17.
But the beginning of the sixth jam found AZRD jammer Denise Lightning in the penalty box and former speed skater Bebe Brewski at the jammer line for Sacred. Brewski got through the pack twice, scoring a grand slam before Denise could score any, and Sacred took a lead that they jealously guarded for the rest of the first half.
In the ninth jam Mugshot Mary added her own grand slam as Deez Nutz went to the penalty box and Sacred extended the lead to 28-21. In the thirteenth jam, AZRD put Babe Ruthless on the jam line against Bebe, but the decision turned out to be disastrous for the AZRD as Bebe ran up a full-length 8-0 against Babe, who never broke out of the pack. The score at that point was 40-24 Sacred, but AZRD closed the gap in the final few jams of the half, with particularly big help from a 9-0 win for Gratuitous Violet over Mugshot Mary. The half closed at 43-36 for Sacred.
Critically important for Sacred in the first half was the fact that AZRD jammers were sent to the penalty box twice, while none of Sacred's jammers visited the box.
Second Half
Sacred came out smoking for the first jam of the second half, as Mughsot Mary got lead jammer and eight points, while Sacred's blockers held Shirley Demise scoreless. But AZRD proved that they were far from laying down. AZRD won the next three jams, capped off with an incredible twenty-first jam, when Sacred's jammer Bebe Brewski rolled to the bench with an injury that would leave her on the bench for the rest of the bout. AZRD capitalized, with Shirley Demise scoring eleven unanswered points to putting AZRD ahead, 56-54, for the first time since the first half's fourth jam.
Mugshot Mary and Sacred blockers answered in the next jam as Gratuitous Violet was brutalized and never broke the pack; a 7-0 jam for Sacred put the lead back in the home team's hands, 61-56. AZRD would be shut out for the next five jams in a row, and Sacred pushed the lead out to 67-56. But Sacred fell into some penalty trouble, and AZRD turned to their ace Denise Lightning, sending her to the line every other jam. A 13-0 run over four jams momentarily put Arizona back in front, 69-67, though Mugshot Mary got the lead back for Sacred with a 3-0 over a tiring Denise Lightning.
With the score 70-69 and about six minutes left to play, Sacred looked to be in crisis -- they'd just given up a double-digit lead, critical jammer Bebe Brewski was injured and out of the bout, Mugshot Mary and Candy Crusher were both winded, and Teenie Meanie was sitting on three minors. Sacred was forced to put up blocker Gaygan at the jam line against Arizona's Deez Nuts, but Gaygan more than rose to the occasion, pulling out lead jammer status and battling through the pack for two grand slam laps with the help of Daddy's Girl and the other Sacred blockers unleashing a barrage of blocks on Deez Nuts. When Gaygan finally called the jam, her ecstatic teammates carried her from the track -- her dramatic 10-0 had given Sacred a 80-69 lead with just four minutes to play.
Arizona just didn't have a answering miracle in their pocket that they could pull out. Although the visitors won the last two jams, it wasn't enough to overcome Sacred's lead. Final score: 83-75 Sacred.
Top jammers for Sacred were Mugshot Mary with 41 points in 11 jams and Candy Crusher with 19 points in 12 jams. AZRD's top scorers were Shirley Demise with 26 points in 9 jams and Denise Lightning with 20 points in 9 jams. Total penalties were 78 for Sacred and 84 for AZRD. Majors were 14 for Sacred and 15 for AZRD.
This weekend, AZRD has its home team championship as the Bad News Beaters take on the Surly Girlies, June 14th. Sacred is next in action against Bay Area on July 19th.
