Mar 10, 2014 | Bout News
Garda Belts Advance over Dagger Dolls 145-71
By: Fire Wally
The Garda Belts kept their dominant position in the Minnesota RollerGirls tenth season Saturday, skating to a 145-71 win over the Dagger Dolls in the home season semifinal. After a close first half, the Gardas scored big on power jams in the second to advance to the championship bout.
First Half
As the first whistle blew, Garda Belts jammer Slambda Phage exploded through the middle of the Dagger Dolls’ wall for lead jammer, then racked up 9 points as blockers Soft Serve, Tara Bichapart, and Scootaloo held back the pink jammer. The Dolls and Gardas then traded 4-point jams, followed by a scoreless jam to make the score 4-13 with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
Psycho Novia grabbed a quick 2 points on the next jam, which set up Destiny’s Problem Child jamming for the Dolls against the Gardas’ Slambda Phage. Phage quickly picked up lead, but was called on a penalty before scoring any points. Destiny skated for 10 points during the power jam, but Phage scored 10 of her own after being released from the box, keeping the Gardas’ 7-point advantage as the clock read 11 minutes.
A penalty by Destiny at the end of the jam set up a power jam opportunity for the Gardas’ Shiva Shank’n on the next jam. After Shiva picked up lead jammer, the Gardas wall of Knoxher Blockoff, Tara Bichapart, Dementia Darling, and Dr. Sorders trapped a Dolls blocker to allow Shiva to push the remaining Dolls forward 20 feet and force them to disengage. Shiva scored 9 points and then called off the jam after Destiny finished her penalty time.
Wolfe Bite had another power jam opportunity on the next jam and scored another 9, followed by a 5-point jam from Phage that made the score 48-16 Gardas with 7 minutes left in the half.
Naughty Kitty then started a rally for the Dolls that lasted through the rest of the half. At the start of the next jam, a multi-player blocking penalty on Shiva Shank’n set up a power jam for the Dolls. Hanna Belle Lector shoved the Gardas wall to the outside and cleared the way for Kitty’s first scoring pass, then was assisted by more offensive blocking from Hannah Shot First and Sagittearitup to clear holes on Kitty’s next pass.
On the next jam, Kayzilla raced through the middle of the Gardas wall for four more points, cutting the Gardas lead to 48-30 with 4 minutes remaining in the half. Two scoreless jams followed, then Sagittearitup scored 8 on a power jam, assisted by offensive blocking from BiPolar Bear, Kung POW Bitchin’, Shiver Me Kimbers, and Detroit Muff. Tearitup called off the jam with Gardas jammer Shiva Shank’n still in the box and just over 1 minute left in the half. Kayzilla scored 7 more on the next jam, narrowing the Gardas’ lead to 48-45 at Halftime.
Second Half
The Gardas held that three point lead for the first two jams of the second half, then started to take the momentum back when Slambda Phage lined up to jam against Kayzilla. A green wall of Citizen Pain, Shiva Shank’n, and Second Hand Smoke contained Zilla with tenacious recycling while Phage skated for 14 points, widening the Gardas lead to 69-52 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.
Killsey McMurder picked up a quick 2 points on the next jam and a Wolfe Bite penalty late in the jam set up a power jam for Shiver Me Kimbers. Unfortunately for the Dagger Dolls, Kimbers was called on a Gross Misconduct penalty during the jam and ejected from the game. The Dolls then had to play the rest of the jam without a jammer and start Destiny’s Problem Child in the box in the next jam to serve the remainder of Kimbers’ penalty time. Wolfe Bite and Soft Serve each scored big on those power jam opportunities, followed by a 7-point jam from Phage. When the dust had settled, the Garda Belts were up 103-54 with 10 minutes left in the game.
The Gardas maintained that advantage for the rest of the game, with Wolfe Bite, Phage, and Soft Serve all widening the Gardas’ advantage in the final jams. At the final whistle, Gardas won 145-71, advancing to face the Atomic Bombshells for the Golden Skate at the championship bout in April.