Texas Claims Second Straight Governor's Cup
DALLAS, TX -- The Texas Rollergirls exploded early for points, and held off a determined Dallas Derby Devils rally to win the Governor's Cup in the championship game 102-59. The Texas Rollergirls retained the Bronze Armadillo trophy Sunday night in North Richland Hills, Texas after winning it last year in Houston.
A ten-point jam in the third jam of the bout would put the Texas Rollergirls up 14-0 over the Derby Devils. The Texas defense would shine in the first half shutting out Dallas 13 out of 19 jams. The pivotal point in the game would be two consecutive jams in the first half. A ten-point jam by Babe Ruthless, followed by a 17-point jam by Rice Rocket would turn a 26-6 lead into a 53-6 lead. Although no spectacular jams would occur in the last seven jams of the half, the team from Austin would outscore DDD during those jams 18-11 to take a 71-17 lead in at half time.
Texas would roll out looking to keep the same defensive pattern going, blanking the Derby Devils 4-0 after two jams. But the local team would score four of their own in the third jam to make a statement that this half wasn't going to be as easily dominated as the first half. Two big ten-point jams by Rice Rocket and Sparkle Plenty in the fifth and six jams would give the Texas Rollergirls a 96-23 advantage and what appeared to be an insurmountable lead.
Dallas would shut out Texas for the next four jams with a nine-point jam by Scary Cherry Bang Bang making the score 96-40 after the tenth jam of the second half. An eight-point jam by Hot 4 Teacher would narrow the lead down to 98-48 in the twelfth jam of the second half. Dallas would finish the game out with a couple of four point jams, to cut the margin even further, but Friction VixXxen of Texas would gain lead jammer status and get two-hard earned points against a physical Dallas defense in the last jam, and the final score would be posted on the scoreboard at 102-59.
Perhaps the main advantage Texas had over Dallas was their experience, and a very tough defense early in the game. Add in the explosive jams and Texas was able to almost put the Derby Devils away in the first half with the 71-17 lead at halftime. But Dallas would outscore Texas 40-31 in the second half, and outscore them 36-6 in the last ten jams of the bout.
The leading scorers for Texas were Rice Rocket with 49 points, Sparkle Plenty with 28 points, and Babe Ruthless with 14 points. All individual scoring is unofficial. Top blockers for Texas included RadioActive, Friction VixXxen, Belle Starr, and Shank.
The top scorers for the Dallas Derby Devils included Hot 4 Teacher with 24 points, Scary Cherry Bang Bang with 15 points, and Keltic Kamikaze with 9 points. Hot 4 Teacher also had a strong six lead jammer status out of nine jams, to help keep her team competitive. The top blocker for the Dallas Derby Devils, and for the game, was The Shocker with six key blocks. Other top blockers for Dallas included Mercy, Ali Gorey, and Heike DeSkirt.
Semifinal: (21) Dallas 186, (u) West Texas 58
The Dallas Derby Devils would show the home crowd and a replacement West Texas Roller Dollz squad why they are heading the Western Regional tournament in the next two weeks by beating West Texas 186-58. It was the Roller Dollz first WFTDA bout since officially becoming a member of the WFTDA.
Dallas utilized its very physical blocking to break out to a 13-1 lead after a ten-point jam by Hot 4 Teacher. But Marie LaRolle of West Texas would come back with an eight-point jam to narrow the game to 13-9. Dallas would shut out the team from Lubbock the next ten jams, outscoring them 51-0 in that span of jams. Top jams for Dallas during that run included an eight-point jam by Hot 4 Teacher, a nine-point jam by Scary Cherry Bang Bang, and a ten-point jam by Lickity Split Tail. Keltic Kamikaze would score a nine-point jam for DDD in the 16th jam of the first half, but Hotwhlzz would counter with a ten-point jam in the 17th jam for West Texas, and both teams would score four points in the final jam of the half with Dallas leading 91-27 at the halftime break.
Dallas would score even more points in the second half, 95. Lickity Split Tail would score a ten-point jam, Ann R Key would score a 14-point jam, and Keltic Kamikaze would score the big jam of the tournament, a 20-point jam. The Roller Dollz would also up their output to 31 points in the second half, with Marie LaRolle scoring a nine-point jam for the team from Lubbock's top jam of the half.
The leading scorers for Dallas included Keltic Kamikaze with 38 points, Hot 4 Teacher with 35 points, Lickity Split Tail with 24 points, and Ann R Key with 19 points. Four other Derby Devils scored in double figures. All individual scoring is unofficial. There was a lot of very physical blocking for Dallas, with leading effective blockers including Ali Gorey, Mercy, The Shocker, and Heike DeSkirt.
For the West Texas Roller Dollz, a team that was substituting for Houston Roller Derby because of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in the Houston area, Marie LaRolle scored 40 out of 58 points in an amazing individual game of jamming. Hot Whlzz scored 12 points, and Rollin Atkinson scored 6 points. Top blockers for West Texas included Lethal Whoopin', Twanda, and SlyDeR.
Semifinal: Texas 163, (42) Assassination City 26
The Texas Rollergirls sent a combination of all stars and young skaters to compete in the Governor's Cup. They showed in their first bout of the tournament they would be the team to beat by dominating the Assassination City Special Ops, 163-26.
Texas would open with a 103 point first half with Babe Ruthless opening the bout up with a 12-0 first jam. Other big jams in the first half included a 12-point jam by Grand Master Slash, a ten-point jam by Belle Starr, a fifteen-point jam by Friction VixXxen, and another ten-point jam by Babe Ruthless that would highlight the scoring run by the team from Austin. And Texas would hold Assassination City to only eight points in the half.
The second half would have a little less scoring by Texas and a little more scoring by Assassination City, but Texas would still outscore the team from Dallas 60-18. The Texas second half scoring would be led by a 13-point jam by Belle Starr, an 11-point jam by Rice Rocket, and a ten-point jam by Friction VixXxen.
Top scorers for Texas included Belle Star with 48 points, Friction VixXxen with 42 points, Babe Ruthless with 41 points, and Rice Rocket and Grand Master Slash each with 15 points. Top blockers for Texas included Shank, Booty Queen, and Mary Lou Threaten.
The top scorers for Assassination City included Vanna Rockin' with 10 points, Olive Illegal with 7 points, and Mona Buis'r with 5 points. Top blocker for the Special Ops was Mona Bruis'r with a game leading six key blocks. Other solid blockers for Assassination City included Kernal Angus, and Luanne Splatter with multiple key blocks.
Play-in bout: (42) Assassination City 96, (47) Alamo City 74
The Assassination City Derby Roller Derby Special Ops opened up the Governor's Cup tournament with an explosive offense early, and held off a late Alamo City rally to beat the Alamo City Rollergirls 96-74.
In the first game of the Governor's Cup, the Alamo City Rollergirls and the Assassination City Special Ops started off tied after the first jam. Both Barbara Coa of Alamo City and Mia Hammer of Assassination City each contributed eight-point scoring jams. Alamo City would take an 11-8 lead after the second jam with Speedyrella scoring three points. It looked like it might be a very close bout, but the Special Ops would shut out the squad from San Antonio the next four jams while scoring 17 points and take a 25-11 lead.
In the 15th jam, when Shay Manyu would score six points for the Tejanas from San Antonio, the game was fairly even with Alamo City closing the score margin to 40-29. But the Special Ops would shut out Alamo City in the last four jams of the half while Kernal Angus was scoring a five-point jam and Red Hot Rage was scoring a seven-point jam as the team from Dallas took a 52-29 lead at halftime.
Assassination City would start off the second half on fire, outscoring the squad from San Antonio 28-1. The big jam of that run and of the game was a 15-point jam scored by Harassiz Mine. The Alamo City Rollergirls would start chipping away, but would be held off by an eight-point jam by Olive Illegal in the 8th jam, allowing the Special Ops to maintain an 88-42 lead.
However, Crash N Burnadette would score an eight-point jam, and Kitty Glitter would follow it up with a 14-point jam for Alamo City, and the margin would be reduced to 93-64. Alamo City would outscore the Special Ops 10-2 in the last four jams, but the clock would run out with the final score Assassination City 96, Las Tejanas 74.
Leading scorers for Assassination City were Harassiz Mine, Kernal Angus, and Olive Illegal each with 15 points. Red Hot Rage also chipped in with 12 points. All individual scoring is unofficial. The leading blocker for Assassination City was Mona Bruiser with five key blocks. Other leading blockers included Brandi Danger, Mary Ate Ashley, and Mia Hammer.
The top scorers for Alamo City were Barbara Coa with 16 points, Kitty Glitter with 15 points, Speedyrella with 14 points, and Shay Manyu with 12 points. Leading blockers for the squad from San Antonio included Pleasure2 Beatya, Crash N Burnadette, and Skully Vera.
Consolation Game: (u) West Texas 125, (47) Alamo City 98
The West Texas Roller Dollz picked up their first victory since becoming a WFTDA team as they defeated the Alamo City Rollergirls 125-98 in a regulation WFTDA-length bout.
Alamo City kept it close in the first half with the team from Lubbock taking a 58-47 lead at halftime. Alamo City would eventually narrow the bout down to a 71-64 score in the second half, but a 20-point jam by the Roller Dollz' Marie LaRolle would move the score out to a 92-67 margin. West Texas would maintain the lead, despite a solid effort by the team from San Antonio, and outscore Las Tejanas 67-51 in the second half.
The most impressive scorer for the Roller Dollz was Marie LaRolle with Hotwhlzz also contributing to the scoring effort for West Texas. Top blockers included Lethal Whoopin' and Twanda for the squad from Lubbock. The most impressive scorer for Alamo City was Speedyrella, with Kitty Glitter and Shay Manyu having solid blocking efforts for the team from San Antonio during the consolation bout.
Photos: Bill Smotrilla
