Mar 16, 2015 | Bout News
The Rockits Came From Bouter Space To Win Third Place
The Rockits won third place in the Minnesota Rollergirls final home season event Saturday night, winning a close, back-and-forth contest with the Atomic Bombshells. Harmony Killerbruise, veteran Rockits jammer, was the hero of the bout with a spectacular last jam that brought the Rockits up from behind to win 115-111.
The start of the third place bout was all about the Bombshells’ Fannie Tanner and the Rockits’ Harmony Killerbruise, as each team’s star jammer took a power jam opportunity from the other to make a strong opening statement for their team. Fannie struck first in the opening jam, getting an immediate power jam opportunity and slowly shoving her way around Rockits blocker MadRad to earn 12 points for the Bombshells. Harmony struck back a few jams later, jumping and spinning her way to 18 points before Fannie was released from the box, making the score 25-12 in favor of the Rockits.
Freeze Baby struck back on the next jam and scored 9 for the Bombshells, making the score 25-21 Rockits with 15 minutes left in the half and setting the tone for a close, back-and-forth contest that would keep for the rest of the bout. Rhea Volt would soon open some margin in the Rockits lead by earning lead jammer and dodging some big swinging hits from Bombshell blockers to 37-21 Rockits with 8 minutes on the clock. Through the rest of the first half, Bombshells jammers Hurtrude Stein, L’exi Cuter, Fannie, and Freeze would each chip away the Bombshells lead, but Rhea Volt stepped up twice more to earn lead jammer and expand the Rockits’ lead. At the end of the first half, the Rockits led 58-52.
The Bombshells kept it close through the start of the second half, but then Bombshell jammer L’exi Cuter blew the game wide open with a 19-point jam against the Rockits’ Mae Gusta. Bombshell blockers Hurtrude Stein and sandblastHER teamed up to one-two-punch Gusta to the outside while L’exi earned lead, then on her scoring pass L’exi used her own skaters for camouflage to sneak around the Rockits wall. Chris Tea Pain and Diamond Rough contributed to the Bombshells wall that bought enough time for L’exi to bring the Bombshells to a 80-67 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
Two jams later, well, things got a little crazy. Harmony Killerbruise squared off against the Bombshells’ Roley Ann Lena on the jammer line, and juked her way around the pack to a quick lead jammer call. Even though Roley escaped the pack soon after, Harmony elected to keep the jam going rather than call it off after earning points. As the jammers approached on their second pass, the pack started getting rougher and rougher, with skaters from both teams getting called to the Surly Sin Bin on penalties. As the pack thinned, at one point with just one blocker from each team, the two jammers jockeyed for position, resulting in a jam with 5 different lead changes on the score board. When the dust had settled, Harmony had earned the Rockits a 2-point lead, 94-92 with 8 minutes left to play.
The back and forth lead changes continued through the rest of the bout. The Bombshells looked like they’d claim victory going into the last jam, but the Rockits’ Harmony Killerbruise was the right jammer at the right time. Taking advantage of a high block call on Fannie Tanner, she quickly earned lead, muscled her way to two scoring passes, then called off the jam with the game clock at 0:00, earning the Rockits 3rd place in season 11 with a 115-111 victory.
Bout Highlights
First Half 11:00 – Fannie Tanner is struggling against a four-wall of Rockits blockers. Madame de Stompadour comes barreling through that wall with a solid, lifting hit, giving Fannie space to earn lead jammer.
First Half 7:00 – L’exi Cuter is gunning for the outside line, but the Rockits’ Killahertz sees it coming and shoves L’exi off the track. Killahertz goes out of bounds herself in the process, which would mean that L’exi could come right back in, but Tegan N’ ScareYa sees it happen and runs back to force L’exi to skate in behind her. Heads up play from both Rockits blockers.
First Half 5:00 – Rhea Volt earns lead jammer for the Rockits with Mugsy Marauder trailing by about 60 feet. Volt finishes a scoring pass but does not call off the jam, taunting Mugsy (this is jammer code for “Try and Keep Up!”). Mugsy answers skillfully, staying on the same lap as Volt and earning 8 points to her 11.
First Half 2:00 – Manila Ice, blocking for the Rockits, sees Freeze Baby coming in hot out of the penalty box and grabs her teammate Ana Stick and uses her as a projectile to block Freeze. Stick stays upright and in front of Freeze, giving Ice and Surly Bird a chance to join her and reform a wall.
Second Half 5:00 – Buzz TightRear is back in action for the Rockits, looking like she never left. She blasts Freeze Baby to the outside line and disorients her long enough for Rhea Volt to steal some points even though Freeze was lead jammer.
Second Half 3:00 – The Rockits’ MadRad is often a thorn in a jammer’s side, but Fannie gets a roar from the crowd as she manages to step and roll around her for lead jammer.