HOUSTON, TX -- In the third chapter of the ongoing tournament saga between Texas and Rat City, Texas finally got revenge for their narrow losses in the 2007 Western Regional and National quarterfinals, defeating the Seattle crew in an intense, back-and-forth crowd-pleaser that came down to the last jam.

Texas' win advanced them to the 2008 Western Regional championship against the only other surviving team, Bay Area.

Follow the play-by-play in the archived boutcast here.

The first jam of the night pitted Texas' Rice Rocket against Rat City's Femme Fatale, which gave Texas a 3-0 lead to start. Rat City hit right back, though, with their jammer Blonde 'n' Bitchin getting lead but also getting dropped by tough Texas blocker Bullet Tooth Tracy just as she did so, allowing Texas jammer Bloody Mary to sneak ahead. Blonde 'n' Bitchin refused to give in, though, and managed to catch up during Mary's scoring pass and steal a 4-2 victory that made it a one-point bout at 5-4 Texas.

After a quick scoreless jam, the next two would go very big for Rat City -- a 5-0 for Carmen Getsome over Sparkle Plenty and a 12-0 for Miss Fortune over Olivia Shootin' John -- and it was suddenly 21-5 for Rat City. But in the wink of an eye, the lead vanished as Texas blockers Desi Cration Friction VixXxen and Sparkle Plenty completely owned Rat City jammer Valtron, allowing the speedy Rice Rocket to score a 16-0 jam that tied it at 21.

A fast 2-0 for Cat Tastrophe over Wile E. Peyote gave Texas the lead momentarily, but it was gone quickly on the next jam when Blonde n Bitchin lapped Rice Rocket three times in a big 15-0 one that left Rat City enjoying a 36-23 lead. Rat would pile on with a 9-3 for Femme Fatale in a jam that found Texas' Desi Cration starting the frame in the box and Femme ending it there.

With the score 45-23 and 10:03 in the half, Rat City had a full penalty box -- and lost their jammer Femme Fatale again mid-jam when she entered in the middle of the pack. Lady X was able to turn that into a full-length 9-0 for Texas.

On the following jam, Femme finally got out of the box, stole lead from a Texas pack that hadn't registered her return quite yet, and scored a 4-0 win over Bloody Mary. It was then 49-31 for Rat City with 6 left in the first.

Next up, Rice Rocket would lose an advantage when she had lead jammer and 4 points over Miss Fortune but decided to go for more -- the gamble backfired as Rice crashed into Miss Fortune from behind and was smacked with a back-block major. That jam ended 5-5 with about 3 minutes to play in the half and the score 54-36 for Rat.

A big 8-0 for Rice Rocket, with the help of Texas blocker Desi Cration positionally blocking Ann R. Kissed to a near stop before lifting her off her skates with a very nice hip check. It was a 10 point game then at 54-44, but D-Bomb, in her first jam of the night for Rat, gave her team a few more points on the halftime margin with a half-ending 5-3 over Bloody Mary. Halftime score was 59-47 for Rat City.

Second Half

As the second half opened, the pack speeds, already quite fast, increased to dizzying levels -- but Femme Fatale, jamming for Rat City, didn't have trouble picking up 11 points over a boxed Rice Rocket, giving Rat City another big advantage at 70-47.

Texas rallied just when they needed it, though. The next three jams would go as a total of 12-4 for Texas, making it 74-59, and then a jammerless jam reset forced a rare jam with the star for Rat City's Skate Trooper against very experienced Texas jammer Bloody Mary. Texas took advantage for a grand slam, and it was 75-64 as Texas closed the gap to 11 points with just under 20 minutes left in the bout.

Rat City managed to put up 3 points before another jammerless jam and 0-0 jam, making it 79-64. There was heavy controversy on the following jam, as Sparkle Plenty got lead jammer and was coming for her points, but the jam was mysteriously whistled dead before she reached the pack. The Texas fans weren't pleased with that happenstance, and there was a lengthy referee conference with the bench while the fans expressed their concerns with remarkably direct language.

When action resumed, there was no change in the margin after a 2-2 tie between Miss Fortune and Lucille Brawl, but up next was a big jam for Texas as Rat City's penalty box was full up and Texas' Morphine took advantage of a few moments with just one Rat City skater on the floor for a 10-0. It was then 82-76 for Rat City with 12 minutes to go.

A two minute epic between Lucille Brawl and Femme Fatale would squeak Texas a couple of points closer at 85-81, and then, in a very shorthanded jam for both teams, Bloody Mary and Miss Fortune jammed against a 2-2 pack. Fortune tried to go around the outside, but Texas pivot Bullet Tooth Tracy bounced her in the deep part of the turn, and it'd be a lead jam and 4-0 for Bloody Mary, tying it all up at 85-85 with 8:30 on the clock.

Texas had all the momentum at this point, and it continued when Rice Rocket got a grand slam and extra scoring pass on Rat City's Ann R. Kissed for a 9-0 jam that got Texas in front for the first time since halfway through the first, 93-85.

Blonde 'n' Bitchin got Rat City a win for the first time in four jams, surviving a huge hit from Bullet Tooth Tracy to grand-slam on opposing jammer Bloody Mary -- that made it 93-90 for Texas with just over 5 minutes to play.

The next jam between Rice Rocket and Carmen Getsome would keep the margin the same, although lead jammer Carmen gave up an opportunity to close it -- Texas blocker Friction Vixxxen blocked her into the infield during her opening pass and then slammed on the brakes, forcing Carmen to wait for the re-entry -- but as Friction sank to nearly 20 feet behind the pack, Carmen began to appeal to the ref to order Friction back to the pack, failing to notice that Rice Rocket was about to enter for her own points. By the time Carmen called the jam, it was 3-3, and that'd make it 97-94 Texas with 3:30 to play.

Desi Cration took a turn with the jammer star for Texas next up and scored a quick 3-0 over Blonde n' Bitchin that made it 100-94 with 2:02 on the clock, and Texas almost put the game away with a 5-0 grand slam for Rice Rocket over Miss Fortune, putting the margin at 14, 108-94, with 58 seconds left on the clock.

Rat City needed three things to manage a last-jam comeback -- lead jammer, no points for Texas and a series of grand-slam jams -- and they got two of them. Carmen Getsome took lead jammer over Desi Cration, and Desi entered the penalty box almost as soon as her scoring pass started, leaving Carmen unopposed with 0:00 on the period clock. But with Texas having a 4-2 advantage in the pack, they were able to tie Carmen up on her first scoring pass until she was eventually sent to the box with only 3 points, ending the bout at Texas 108, Rat City 97.

The thriller sent Texas to the 2008 Western Regional championship bout to face Bay Area, while Rat City went on to play for third place against surprising Duke City.

Photos: Bill Smotrilla