#8 Charm City Defeats Tampa, 159-124

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Tue Feb 22 2011 12:13pm

BALTIMORE, MD -- Underdog Tampa (#6 South Central via WFTDA) made a game of it through much of the first half, but home Charm City (#8 nationally via DNN, officially #3 in the East via WFTDA) struck hard in the beginning of the second half to pull away from the Florida team in a 159-124 victory.

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For the first few jams of this bout, the score suggested the teams were evenly matched. Tampa opened with a 4-0 to Little A, but the advantage flipped on nearly every jam for the next stretch. Charm's Clitty Clitty Bang Bang tied it with a 4-0 of her own to follow, Tampa's Flirtin W Disaster got the margin back with 4-0, and an I.M. Pain vs Little A jam went 8-4, leaving the score knotted at 12-12 after four jams.

Though Tampa held a 21-18 lead after ten minutes, jammer penalties on Tampa opened the door for Charm City to open up a lead they would never give back. Tampa's Rojo Grande was boxed while Charm's O'Chit pulled a 10-0 jam, and the jammer penalty extended to the next jam, where I.M. Pain scored 13-0. With 16:15 to play in the first half, it was 41-21 Charm City.

Tampa played it pretty closely and shaved a little bit off that lead during the next seven minutes; with 7:55 left in the half, Tampa was still very much in it with a score of Charm City 57, Tampa 43. But Little A started the next jam in the box, and I.M. Pain raced to a 15-0, which was quickly followed by a 8-0 for O'Chit. Suddenly Tampa was in danger of being doubled up at 80-43 with 4:50 in the half.

Tampa got some points back before halftime and trailed 84-55 at the break, but their hopes were severely damaged when the first jam of the second half proved to be the biggest one of the night for Charm. I.M. Pain shrugged off many blocks while Little A was totally stuck behind Charm's Just Carol and the rest of the Baltimore defense; when it was all over, it was a 28-4 that put Charm firmly in control, 112-59.

It looked like Tampa might claw their way back in it when they scored back to back 9-3 jams to make it 118-77 with 23:15 left on the clock, but Holly Go Hardly -- who had an outstanding game both as a jammer and blocker -- erased all of that with a 17-0 though a thin pack on powerjam. With the score 135-77, it was mostly a matter of time from then on.

Charm City's lead peaked at 65 points at 151-86 with 11:05 left to play, and although Tampa finished very strong, outscoring the home team 32-8 over the last 11 minutes of the game, Charm City had built a cushion that was more than enough to absorb a penalty-heavy final sequence that saw both Rosie the Rioter and Holly Go Hardly foul out in the last minutes. In the end, Tampa managed to secure a losing margin of just 35 points at 159-124, but they were never seriously threatening for the lead in the second half.

Tampa continues north to play a private bout against Dutchland on Sunday; Charm City's next WFTDA bout will be against longtime inter-regional rival Detroit on March 26.