Photo by Derek P. Opdyke
The Santa Cruz Derby Girls’ Harbor Hellcats emerged victorious 137 to 126 over the Eastern Contra Costa Undead Bettys after a closely fought battle that saw numerous lead changes and was anyone’s bout down to the last two jams.
The Undead Bettys have shown incredible improvement since May of 2009, the last time they visited the 1,200 seat Civic Auditorium in downtown Santa Cruz. At that bout the Bettys (augmented by some borrowed skaters from the Silicon Valley Roller Girls) were dismantled by the Hellcats 171 to 98.
This year the Bettys glided into the perpetually sold out Santa Cruz Derby Girls Stadium undefeated for the season against the equally impressive Hellcats (3-1). The Bettys brought in 13 home grown skaters, but were minus Juicy McLovin’ who was home nursing a wounded knee.
The action was close in the opening jams as each team grabbed lead jammer status, busted through the blockers and then called off the jam in classic “hit it and quit it” fashion.
In the fourth jam Raven Von Kaos scored a grand slam ahead of a vicious hit by InflictHer Pain, who made her Hellcats debut by spinning Undead jammer Risky Reignbow in a full 360.
Santa Cruz would go up 13 – 4 on that 4th jam and would cling to that lead through the eleventh jam, when jammer Polly KneesYa (just back from a horrific ankle break early in the season) would be sent off for re-entering the track ahead of her blocker. Lethal Limey took full advantage of the opportunity and racked up 8 points to pull the Bettys into a 27 – 27 tie at the end of the first quarter. Risky Reignbow would continue the scoring in the next jam as Polly still waited out the penalty in the naughty box, bringing Contra Costa to their biggest lead of the half, 36 – 27.
Santa Cruz would slowly chip away at the lead in the second quarter, behind solid jams by Septicemia, Ida Blacksheep and Fleetwood Smack, who made her jammer debut by grabbing lead jammer status and scoring 4 points to bring Santa Cruz ahead 55 – 53.
The Undead Bettys tied it up 55 -55 in the jam 20 of the half and then “hit-and-quit” in jam 21 for a 59 – 55 halftime lead with a solid jam from Dixie Normous, whose name was treated to a series of increasingly protracted enunciations by announcers Timothy Jordan and Mildred Fierce.
Halftime featured another entertaining 20 minute bout by the junior segment of the Santa Cruz Derby Girls, the Derby Groms. These girls showed solid improvement in their skating ability and derby smarts and it will be a great show when they skate their first full-length bout later this month. In this contest the Sugar Skulls evened their record to 2 – 2 against the Bumper Scars by winning 44 – 41 behind the smooth moves of Betty BiteMe.
The Harbor Hellcats showed grim determination as they skated out for the second half. A huddle next to their bench ended with an emphatic shout of “Double Tap!!”—always good advice when dealing with the Undead.
The Bettys were unimpressed and quickly extended their lead to 9 behind the nifty moves of Sew Evil and the solid power of Ivy Death.
The fourth Jam brought the crowd to its feet as diminutive jammer Fleetwood Smack, with braids a-bouncing, took on opposing jammer Lethal Limey and knocked her off her skates. Fleet then proved name worthy as she reeled off a double grand slam and change for a whopping 13 points, a lead change (80 – 72), hugs from her teammates and the raucous cheers of her 1,200 sudden fans.
With the third quarter winding down Santa Cruz was clinging to a 87 – 86 lead when a still adrenalized Fleetwood Smack was called off for back blocking after scoring 4. Risky Reignbow scored a grand slam but was also called off for the same infraction and Fleetwood re-emerged to score 4 more, bringing the score to 95 – 91.
Incredibly the same scenario played out in the very next jam as Raven Von Kaos was sent to the penalty box, springing Risky Reignbow who scored 4 and was called for back blocking after running into the always crafty Pigeon. Raven re-emerged to score her own 4 and the third quarter ended with the score 100 – 96 in favor of the Hellcats.
The first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter were tense as both teams scratched and clawed for points. The penalty box began to look like the team bench after awhile as the minors and majors piled up. SCDG had 42 minors and 11 majors in the first half, Contra Costa 20 minors and only 7 majors. In the second half the Hellcats stayed consistent at 44 minors and 12 majors. The Bettys meanwhile nearly doubled their minors from 20 to 38, and added 9 new majors. Lisafer was ejected from the bout for excessive trips to the box, as was Pigeon, but not until the last jam of the evening. From such small details can a bout be won or lost.
With four minutes to go, Santa Cruz was maintaining a 114 – 109 lead when jammer Raven Von Kaos, pivot Pixie Painful and blocker InflictHer Pain were all sent off to the box in short order. Sew Evil weaved through the remaining blockers to reel off two grand slams and give Contra Costa the lead once again, 122 – 118.
With 2:45 left on the clock, the penultimate jam saw Queen Litigious take the star panty for only the second time that night. She received a summary judgment in her favor as “Dixie…..#36…..Normous” is called to the penalty box. The blonde dynamo rushed to judgment, scoring her own double grand slam plus 4 to put Santa Cruz ahead by 10, 132 – 122.
The last jam had Raven Von Kaos as the sole jammer, but a minor penalty kept her from gaining lead jammer status. Dixie Normous emerged from the naughty box for a last run to glory, but was held up by the solid teamwork of the Santa Cruz blockers who showed they can hit and communicate well at high speed, fighting off the frantic Dixie amidst the quick pacing of Raven. The final jam went the distance with both jammers scoring points as the pack flew around the track. In the end, the Hellcats were able to minimize the heroic efforts of the Bettys and as time ran out and the final whistle blew, Raven Von Kaos dropped to the track in sweet relief and utter exhaustion, followed by the crowd.
The Santa Cruz Harbor Hellcats held off the Eastern Contra Costa County Undead Bettys 137 – 122. Sew Evil led the Undead Bettys with 42 points, with Dixie Normous chalking up 36, all in the second half. The Hellcats looked to Raven Von Kaos for 51 and Ida Blacksheep for 45. August 21, 2010 was one of the most tense and wildest bouts ever at Santa Cruz Derby Girls Stadium. Derby doesn’t get much more entertaining than this.
Angus McMahan
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(Thank you to Head NSO Dual CannonZ for the stats assistance)
Santa Cruz Derby Girls - THE Rollergirls of Santa Cruz
