#8 Kansas City Shows Up Arch Rival, 146-80
KANSAS CITY, MO -- In a battle of “Show Me State” rivals this weekend, West defeated East in a flat- track tangle of Missourian teams.
Capitalizing on a 46-0 first-half rally, The Kansas City Roller Warriors (SC #1 and unofficially ranked #8 nationally by DNN) defeated NC #8 Arch Rival 146-80 Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium in front of 2,000.
The 66-point victory netted KCRW (7-1) its second straight win and gave the defending WFTDA South Central champs momentum heading into a pre-playoff tilt next month against another top seed in its own respective region playoff. Kansas City travels to Windy City (NC #1 and unofficially ranked #10 nationally by DNN) on September 10.
“This win can give us some confidence and some camaraderie,” said KCRW jammer Kelley Young following the bout. “But even with a victory that has this sizable margin, there are still a few things that we need to improve upon. We’ll focus in on those details in order to improve.”
However, one would be hard-pressed to find fault with any of Kansas City’s game plan from the onset. A fury from Western Missouri was unleashed upon the unsuspecting visitors from the Gateway City.
Following an 8-7 early advantage for Kansas City three minutes in, the hostesses went on a 46-0 streak in the bout’s next seven jams. KCRW’s Jade Lightning scored nine to extend the lead to 17-7 with 25:30 left in the first half. Hall Balls followed with five and Case Closed added twelve to increase the lead to 34-7.
Utilizing the wide open holes created by the Kansas City blocking schematic, Young continued the scoring by posting five followed by Track Rat’s eight-pointer, rolling up a 47-7 lead with 19:00 left in the first frame.
Lightning tallied four while Balls contributed three to complete the 46-point uncontested rally, which gave KCRW a 54-7 advantage midway through the half.
“Our blockers’ defense was especially effective,” said Young of the 13-minute shutout of St. Louis scoring. “The Arch Rival jammers were really stuck in the pack. Being aware of where they were was key.”
Young collected fourteen more in the latter stages of the first half, resulting in a 91-31 lead for Kansas City at intermission.
KCRW maintained the pressure to begin the second half. Balls notched a 17-pointer with 26:30 left to extend the lead to 108-32. Young later added eight and nine as the second half progressed, which saw Kansas City sport a 127-42 lead with 18:00 left.
A late Arch Rival surge of points allowed the visitors to save face as jammer Mighty Mighty Boston scored on jams of 13 and 17 in the second half’s back half. Kansas City outscored St. Louis 55-49 in the second half to preserve the win.
Five KCRW jammers netted double-digit scoring with Young pacing all scorers with 55 points, followed by Balls’ 31.
The balance of scoring (171 ppb. avg.) and defensive blocking (95 ppb. avg.) has been imperative to KCRW’s success in 2011. Western Missouri’s finest knows that that this will have to be the blueprint (or in their case, “red print”) followed when hosting “Show Me Der-B-Q” – the South Central region playoff – in late September.
“We have to be protective of our situation,” said Young. “Texas (SC #2) is a very strong team. Very stubborn and scrappy. They will do everything that they can do to win.
“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, but we’ll have to do it better.”
Arch Rival (7-3) was led by Boston’s 45 points, followed by South City Shiner’s 19. St. Louis hosts NC #16 Sioux Falls this Saturday.
In the doubleheader’s opener, the Saint Lunachix – ARRG’s developmental squad – utilized a 24-0 bout opening strike to defeat KCRW’s Plan B 130-103. EnYa Nightmare scored 45 points to pace the Lunachix, who improved to 9-1.
