Nov 17, 2014 | Bout News

Silence of the Jams: Bombshells Outlast Garda Belts

The Atomic Bombshells overcame a first half run from the Garda Belts to win the second bout of Silence of the Jams Saturday night 157-124. The Bombshells deep blocking and jamming rosters allowed them to withstand a breakout performance from Garda Belts jammer Second Hand Smoke, who looked in top fighting shape to represent Team USA at the Roller Derby World Cup in Dallas next month. The win from the Bombshells follows up a strong performance at the Gilded Steak mini-tournament last month and solidifies their position as the team to beat in Season Eleven.

First Half

The first whistle of the game started an all-out jammer race between Second Hand Smoke of the Garda Belts and Fannie Tanner of the Atomic Bombshells. Both jammers emerged from the pack at about the same time, with Fannie clearing the last Garda blocker just a moment before Smoke and earning lead jammer. As both jammers hurtled toward the pack on the first scoring pass, Fannie started calling off the jam, hoping to sneak in a few points before Smoke passed any Bombshell blockers. Her timing was good enough to edge out a one-point advantage, and the Bombshells started the game up 4-3.

From there, however, the Garda Belts dominated the early game. Shiva Shank’n recovered from an early stumble on the next jam to claim lead jammer, then scored 4 while Crust Almighty held back the Bombshells jammer. Smoke showed raw strength and clever tactics on the following jam as she pushed through the inside line for lead jammer then raced around the outside while completing two scoring passes. Freeze Baby answered back with 3 points for the Bombshells on the next jam, but then Shiva and Smoke got lead jammer in the next three, inching up the score to 21-7 Gardas with 12 minutes left in the half.

Bombshells jammer Fannie Tanner stepped up to the line next and blew the game wide open. Taking advantage of a track cut from Maul E. Coddle, Fannie emerged from the pack as lead jammer on a 30-second power jam. On Fannie’s first scoring pass, Diamond Rough split up the Garda blockers by knocking one out of bounds and drawing her to the back of the pack. As Fannie skated through the pack and then back around, Messi Jigler set herself up in “dangle” formation behind Madame de Stompadour and Jess LaRotonda, using her teammates as anchors to stay in front of Maul E Coddle and keep her from advancing. By the time the jam expired for time, Fannie had put 30 points on the board, giving the Bombshells a 37-21 lead they would not give up for the rest of the game.

Second Hand Smoke struck back hard on the next jam, bashing through the inside for lead jammer, then driving the Garda Belts fans wild with a spectacular apex jump for an easy five points. Freeze Baby brought the Bombshells momentum back on the following jam though, outscoring Scootaloo 9-3 on a no-lead-jammer jam, and Madame de Stompadour, Fannie Tanner, Crowella De Vil, and Hurtrude Stein each added to the Bombshells’ lead on the next few jams, widening the gap to 86-45 Bombshells at the half.

Second Half

The same pattern continued in the second half, with Second Hand Smoke making big cuts into the Bombshells lead, then the Bombshells re-establishing their margin on the subsequent jams. With 17 minutes on the clock, Smoke lined up against Crowella De Vil, then took advantage of a track cut by Crow and some great offensive support from Scootaloo to score 23 and narrow the Bombshells lead to 104-71.

The Bombshells answered back on the very next jam, however, as Freeze Baby earned lead and 14 points while Hurtrude Stein and Diamond Rough contained the Gardas jammer. Jammer penalties from both teams allowed the score to increase on both sides over the next few jams, which set up Crowella De Vil jamming against Shiva Shank’n with 6 minutes left on the clock.

On the first pass of that jam, Madame de Stompadour delivered a massive lifting hit to Shiva, giving Crow time to get lead jammer and start racking up points for the Bombshells. Crow took advantage of a power jam opportunity to score 19, followed by a few low-scoring jams that made it look like the Bombshells had this one in the bag.

The Gardas didn’t let the Bombshells go out easy, however, as Smoke managed to record another huge jam for the Gardas in the final seconds of regulation. Even though Garda fans in the crowd were loving the performance, Smoke’s 22-point jam wasn’t enough to overcome the Bombshells’ lead, and the Atomic Bombshells won the game 157-124