Western Regional Quarterfinal: (9w) Duke City Shocks (1w) Kansas City, 132-117

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Thu Oct 9 2008 6:43pm

HOUSTON, TX -- In the biggest seeding upset in WFTDA tournament history, Albuquerque's Duke City Derby -- ninth seed coming into the bout -- delivered a stunning all-around performance to boot the top seed and 2007 defending champion Kansas City Roller Warriors, ending their title defense after just one bout. Duke City's win sends them to the semifinals -- and more importantly, qualifies them for November's Nationals tournament in Portland.

Duke City came into this 6:15pm bout already having played a tough bout against Pikes Peak to kick off the tournament at 8am, while it was the first game of the tournament for Kansas, who entered with a bye. Notably, fate might had given a superstitious fan a reason to suspect an upset here -- in that Pikes Peak bout, Duke City's Kamikaze Kim had set a new WFTDA tournament record with a 25-0 jam. That record had previously been set in 2006 by Snot Rocket of Kansas City, who, while on the KCRW roster for the weekend, wasn't able to make it to Houston in time for this bout.

The elements of Duke's win were varied -- first, a spectacular use of pack speed maintenance from the Duke City crew that time after time drew 20ft majors on Kansas City pivots and front blockers who didn't realize how far behind the pack they had fallen; secondly, incredible endurance, agility and explosiveness on the jam line from Duke jammers Muffin (79 points) and Kamikaze Kim (38 points); and thirdly, a memorable late-game stand by the Duke defense -- particularly blockers Miss E. Vil, Dahmernatrix, and Amanda Jamityna -- when they managed to give up only 4 points during three consecutive jams of power plays for Kansas City.

Read the archived boutcast of this bout here.

First Half

From the first whistle, Duke City took it right to Kansas City. Both teams started their star jammers -- Muffin for Duke and Xcelerator, MVP of last year's 2007 Nationals. Muffin would get out first, but without lead -- when X got LJ, she'd call it quick at 0-0. Duke City drew first blood in the next jam, as Duke alertly slowed their pack when KCRW blocker Annie Maul was battling with Duke City's jammer Kamikaze Kim, getting Annie sent off on a 20ft major. That jam went 4-0 for Duke.

Dominant Jean answered with 3 for KC over Duke's Meep Meep to make it 4-3 for Duke, and then Duke City had a statement jam -- Duke's jammer Muffin knocked down her opponent Jade Lightning right off the line, and then faked Patti Wackin right off her skates in the course of her first lap. Jade went to the box, and with the KCRW pack light while Duke was at full strength, Muffin roared for a 12-0 that made it 16-3 for Duke.

Kamikaze Kim was back to get lead and an 11-2 over Lunatic Fridge in a jam that clearly demonstrated Duke City's superior maintenance of pack speed, as Kansas City blockers kept finding themselves forced to yield at 20ft while their own jammers remained bottled up in a sea of green.

With the score Duke City 27, Kansas City 5 and 21:33 left in the first, KC took a timeout to gather themselves, and it seemed to pay off, as Xcelerator showed why she'd gotten the 2007 MVP award with a speedy 10-0 over Duke's Tronsexual.

As the following jam started, it looked like Muffin was going to get the momentum back to Duke, as she took lead and exploded towards the pack, hitting it with Hall Balls far behind ... but she'd get sent off to the box during that pass after collecting 3. That gave Hall Balls plenty of time to work alone, and she outraced Duke blocker Cabbage Snatch Kid on the outside turns twice on that jam for three grand slams. That 15-3 frame put Kansas City in front for the first time, 30 to 29 with 17 minutes left in the half.

Duke wasn't at all rattled, though. KC jammer Dominant Jean got sent to the box during their opening pass of the following jam, and Duke City's pack once against imposed their will on the speed of the KC skaters, getting Kamikaze Kim freed thrice on 20 foot calls. There were 14 points for Kim on that one, putting Duke back in the lead 43-30.

The next jam pitted Duke's Meep Meep against Kansas' Jade Lightning. It looked like it was going to go big for KC as it started with Jade getting lead and closing for her opening lap before Meep Meep was out, but the tide turned about halfway into the jam when Jade got sent off. That ended with 7 points for Meep Meep and 6 for Jade.

Muffin was back for Duke, but just as she had in her previous appearance, she lost lead jammer on her opening scoring pass as she careened into a KC blocker from behind, knocking her down and getting herself boxed. But by this point Jade Lightning was out of the box, and fought a very tenacious Duke defense for a 5-0.

That made it 50-41 for Duke with 10 minutes left in the half. The following jam saw Duke City and Kansas City trade power plays three times, as Lunatic Fringe, starting unopposed, got sent to the box just as Muffin got out. She'd start a scoring pass with big help from Dahmernatrix freeing her from an Ivana Clobber lockdown, but during that scoring pass, Muffin found herself hitting the box for the third time in the half with a cutting-track major ... just as Lunatic got out herself. After all of that, the jam would be a 3-3 wash.

Xcelerator took advantage of Muffin's detainment for a 5-0 score on the next jam, although she took a massive hit when Duke City's Amanda Jamitnya shoved unexpecting teammate Death Ro directly into Xcelerator, which sent both girls flying to the floor and kept X from potentially having enough unopposed time for a second scoring pass.

At Duke City 53, Kansas City 49, there were 6 minutes to play in the half, and there was a palpable sense growing in the Verizon Center that Duke City had a real shot at the upset. KC's jammer Hall Balls, though, did her best to puncture that with lead and a 4-0 over Tronsexual that tied the bout again at 53 with 4:30 to play.

Muffin faced off against Dominant Jean, and with the help of Jean getting stuck during her opening pass by Duke blocker Dahmernatrix, was able to successfully get a clean 4-0 to give Duke the lead again at 57-53. The following jam found shifty Kamikaze Kim with a gorgeous fake-out to claim lead over Xcelerator, but X was just a step behind her the whole way to the pack, and when she tried to fool KCRW blocker Bruz-Her by going outside her, Bruz didn't bite to the inside and knocked her out of bounds -- Kim couldn't get the jam called before the swift Xcelerator rocketed into the pack for 3 points.

At 58 Duke City 56 Kansas City, Muffin got a very quick 4-0, but Xcelerator closed the gap a bit with a 3-0 that ended the period, leaving the halftime score at Duke City 62, Kansas City 59.

Second Half

As the second half started, Muffin got lead without even being touched with the help of a perfectly timed clearing block from Death Ro that opened up the inside of turn 2. That let Muffin score a 4-0 over Hall Balls.

The half's second jam could have been a nightmare for Duke as their jammer Kamikaze Kim went to the box early while KC's Xcelerator was jamming without lead, but the Duke City defense here, keyed by Death Ro and Amanda Jamitnya staying right on top of X, kept the damage to just a 4-0 that put the score at 67-63 Duke.

An awareness error on the part of Duke City's jammer Tronsexual would cost the Albuquerque girls the lead on the next jam. KC's Jade Lightning got out first without lead, and Tronsexual got out of the pack just before Jade completed her first scoring pass. Awarded lead and with Jade right on her heels, Tronsexual could have ended it right there with a 4-0, but either didn't realize that Jade had already been through, or chose to gamble in a race to the pack. It would not work out, though, as Jade lapped her and made another full scoring pass before Tron finally called it at 9-0 for Jade, putting KC in front 72-67.

When the next jam found Kansas City's Jessika Rabid and Red Ripper stifling Muffin's scoring ambitions while Dominant Jean got lead and a grand slam, it seemed as if perhaps Kansas City might at long last assert control of the bout with the score 77-68 for the defending champions.

Although the next jam went 2-1 for Kansas City's Hall Balls over Kamikaze Kim, it got the underdog fans fired up as an incredible lateral leap to claim lead by sneaking by a wall of KCRW blockers left all of them wondering where she went. Meep Meep ratcheted up that momentum on the next jam, getting lead with the help of Duke's pack once again isolating the rear blockers to force 20ft -- although it was particularly noticable in this jam that Bruz-Her and Rita Ploy at the front of the pack were aware of what was being done to them and were struggling to keep their front wall as slow as possible.

With the score 77-75 for Kansas City and about 19 minutes left to play in the game, it was yet again Duke's Muffin coming through at a critical juncture. She lapped Xcelerator twice (with big help from teammate Dahmernatrix lifting X right off her skates into the infield on that first pass) and when X went to the box near the end of the jam, Muffin was able to pick up another lap for a huge 15-0 jam that ignited the audience.

Kamikaze Kim had a shot to pile on, as X was still in the box when that jam ended, but though she got lead (yet again, with the help of Duke pack speed maintenance forcing a 20ft major on Patti Wackin), a deadly block from KC's Annie Maul sent Kim down hard and encouraged her to call it off at 3-0. That left the score at 93-77, giving Duke City their biggest lead since the game was only 8 minutes old.

A quick 2-1 win for Jade Lightning over Tronsexual inched KC a point closer, and then Muffin would once again get lead but lose it by taking up residence in the penalty box after scoring 3. Hall Balls, jamming for KC, got severely hampered by Duke City blocker by Cabbage Snatch Kid and her posse, but managed to make it through twice to cut 7 points off the Duke City lead. It was then 96-89 with 12:15 to go, and Kansas City called time.

Kansas City stole a point as Kamikaze Kim, lead jammer on the following jam, waited just the shortest instant too long before deciding to call it at she and Dominant Jean hit the pack on their scoring passes -- Jean passed a Duke blocker just before the fourth whistle, making it 96-90.

With about 10 minutes to play, it was once again the ubiquitous Muffin that was the scoring engine in a huge momentum-swinging jam. The KCRW pack completely failed to defend the outside, and Muffin's speed allowed her to blast past and get lead on a turn without any resistance. Meanwhile, Duke's Miss E. Vil absolutely smashed opposing jammer Xcelerator to the ground, drawing a huge pop from the crowd and giving Muffin the first of two grand slams on her. That jam ended at 14-0, putting the total at 110-90 with 9:45 to play -- and on top of that, Xcelerator suffered an ankle injury on that jam that would keep her out of the rest of the bout.

KCRW blocker Ivana Clobber had a nice moment in the following jam by managing to break up a tough front wall of Death Ro and Dahmernatix and give Jade Lightning lead jammer, but she was only able to turn it into a 4-3 win over Meep Meep.

Incredibly, with now 7:35 to play and the score 113-94, the action would only get more exciting from there, as each of Duke City's next three jammers would spend a minute of the next three jams sitting in the penalty box and Duke City's defense would be put to its most serious test yet.

Meep Meep was boxed after the previous jam, giving KCRW a critical opportunity at a power play with Hall Balls wearing the star. But in an incredible defensive performance that demonstrated exactly why Duke City was winning, DCD's Killer Queen, Dahmernatrix and Amanda Jamitnya were absolutely all over Hall, giving her zero daylight in smothering tight defense, and after a minute of this treatment Meep Meep was out of the box to get lead and call it with no damage done to Duke's lead.

For the 5th time in the bout, Muffin got lead for Duke City only to lose it on a major penalty during her scoring pass, and this time Kansas City would be able to take advantage. Dominant Jean got a 8-4 on this one -- though it might have been a lot more if Miss E. Vil had not knocked her nearly off the skate court with a thunderous shoulder block.

WIth Duke City hanging on to a 15 point lead at 117-102 and only about three minutes to play, Kansas City needed a big jam, and the door was flung wide open for just that when Kamikaze Kim got a major track cut during the next jam's opening pass, leaving Hall Balls alone -- but it was yet again Miss E Vil, this time with assistance from Dahmernatrix, repeatedly forcing Balls out on the boundaries. When the two minutes had expired, yet another Kansas City power play had resulted in nothing -- a 3-3 tie that made it 120-105 with under a minute on the clock.

The final jam found Muffin going up against Jade Lightning, and everybody in the building knew that Kansas City's only hope was to deny any points to Muffin while Jade got at least three grand slams -- and so when Muffin raced through her first four-point pass, the Duke City bench and fans exploded, with the outcome all but assured. Jade had lead, but could only blindly race in hopes of a miracle that wouldn't come -- and in the end, the 12-12 jam would do nothing to the margin.

Kansas City was eliminated from contention for Nationals by the loss, while Duke City is guaranteed a spot at Portland's November tournament. They advance to play the West's 4 seed, Bay Area, at 6:15pm CDT Saturday night.

Photos: Jules Doyle, Kerry McClain (bottom right)