Feb 11, 2016 | Bout News

Crackin’ Skulls: The Atomic Bombshells Explode to Victory Over the Garda Belts

By Slamurai Jack

After their big win against the Garda Belts last game, the Atomic Bombshells act it’s Groundhog Day and do it all again to take the win 172 – 65. Strong jamming performances from both Brickyard and Riotchu assured them their spot in the championship bout against the Rockits on March 5.

First Half

The Atomic Bombshells started the game off with Riotchu jamming against Ida Sockher for the Garda Belts. Both teams’ tough defense in the first jam kept the jammers in the pack for half of a lap, but Ida fought through to get 5 unanswered points, putting the Gardas in the lead. The next few jams saw tight defense on both teams, which kept the score down and the Gardas in the lead.

On the 4th jam, Brickyard for the Bombshells got lead right away with Hal’luci-Jen jamming for the Gardas stuck in the pack. The double-pronged defense of Diamond Rough and Ms. B’Hayven shoved Hal to the outside where she was drawn back by D Rough. Meanwhile, Brickyard tried fighting through Dr. Sorders and Second Hand Smoke, but couldn’t get through. This allowed enough time for Hal to catch up with Brickyard as they both busted out of the pack. Hal zipped passed Brickyard, only to be re-gained shortly after. The jam ended with Brickyard only able to get one point, the score 4 to 5 with Gardas in the lead.

Riotchu was up next jamming for the Bombshells and Ida Sockher for the Gardas. Riotchu slid to the outside with Ida Sockher close on her heels. Scootaloo barreled after Riotchu but narrowly missed as Riotchu earned lead jammer. Meanwhile Hurtrude Stein slammed Ida to the ground with a big hit, giving the Bombshells enough time to form a merciless three-wall defense with Hurtrude Stein, Bully Jean, and Mugsy Marauder to keep Ida trapped. Ida passed the star to Scootaloo, but Scootie immediately got sent to the box for a forearm penalty. Riotchu picked up 13 points in that jam, giving the Bombshells a substantial 23-5 lead.

Rolley Ann Lena scored 3 points for the Bombshells while the Gardas stayed with no points scored. The next jam Secondhand Smoke got trapped behind D Rough and Betty LaRude while Brickyard got lead jammer with Smoke just out of the pack 30 yards behind her, forcing Brickyard to get one point and call off the jam, putting the score at 27-5 in the Bombshells’ favor with 11 minutes left in the half.

The next few jams, the Bombshells kept the Gardas scoreless thanks to their blockers trapping the Garda jammers in the pack. Lena picked up 8 points followed by 4 by Brickyard in the next jam, bringing the score to 45 – 5 with 7 minutes left in the first half.

The Gardas were able to keep the Bombshells’ score under control and notch up some of their own for the rest of the half. Nice blocking led by Second Hand Smoke and Knoxzer Blokhof kept the score at 45, while Hal and Bri Zuss both scored on the next two jams to bring the Gardas up to 12 with 5 minutes to go in the first half.

Riotchu answered with 4 more points in the next jam. In the second-to-last jam in the half, Brickyard scored 11 points to total 12 to 58 in favor of the Bombshells. Both teams’ defense didn’t give an inch in the final jam of the half, leaving the score at 58 to 12.

Second Half

Riotchu scored 4 unanswered points in the first jam of the half for the Bombshells. The Gardas couldn’t get their jammer through despite a star pass by Bri Zuss to Ida in the first jam, but in the second jam Hal managed to get 5 points for the Gardas in response to 20 scored by Brickyard. Brickyard wound up in the box at the conclusion of that jam for a misconduct penalty call for attempting an apex jump but hit a player mid-air. This set up a power jam for the Gardas as they went into the third jam, with the score 82-17 in Bombshells’ favor.

Second Hand Smoke, jamming for the Gardas, blasted through the middle of the pack to get lead in the next jam with Frigid O’Shaughnessey offering good support to Scootaloo, who landed a solid hit on Hurtrude Stein allowing Smoke an opening to complete her scoring pass. Brickyard managed to pick up 5 points in response to the 5 Smoke earned. That zero-sum jam brought the score to 87-22 for the Bombshells with 16 minutes to go in the second half.

The teams kept each jammer deadlocked in the next jam. Beach Slap for the Gardas tried to juke her way to the inside, but got pushed to the outside track where Smokahontas delivered a massive hit, knocking Beach off balance, but she quickly recovered. Meanwhile, Roley was jamming for the Bombshells but couldn’t get past Knoxzer or the Gardas wall to get any points.

With 15 minutes to go in the half, the Bombshells field Brickyard against Tara Bichapart.
Both jammers pushed hard, but Brickyard found a hole in the defense and got lead. Tara committed a forearm penalty and was sent to the Surly Sin Bin, setting up a power jam for Brickyard. She juked through the middle on next pass with D. Rough, Ms B’Hayven, and Madame De Stompadour playing offense to make a wide path for her to score in. Second Hand Smoke stayed on Brickyard, who couldn’t quite make it around her on the outside. Brickyard called it off just as Tara left the box. That jam cost the Gardas 19 points as Bombshells increased their lead – 106 to 22 with 11 minutes left in the game.

The Bombshells had another big score the next jam with Hurtrude Stein jamming against Scootaloo. Trudy got lead and lapped Scoot, earning 20 points as Scoot was dealing with Bombshells’ defense. Scoot broke out too late and managed to pick up 2 just as Trudy called it off. 126 – 22, with the Bombshells well in the lead.

The Gardas regained their strength and held the Bombshells scoreless for 3 jams while Hal scored 3 points, busting through the pack and calling it off quickly. The Bombshells retaliated and came back with a 10 point jam by Mugsy Maurader. Mugsy and Beach Slap both went to the box that jam, but Mugsy got sent twice. Beach seized that opportunity, picking up 5 points herself, and the jam ended with Mugsy in the box, giving the Gardas a power jam start, but Ida Sockher was only able to nab two points before calling it off.

Hal’luci-Jen faced off against Riotchu during the next jam. Hal takes the outside line and got lead right away while Second Hand Smoke drew Riotchu back and Citizen Pain kept her busy. Hal picked up an impressive 18 points while the Bombshells couldn’t score. The end of the jam Hal went down hard after being hit by Betty LaRude. The score stood at 136 – 52, with the Bombshells in the lead.

Trudy got a 5 quick points for the Bombshells in the next jam, but skated off to the Surly Sin Bin after getting called for two penalties. Beach Slap joined her in the box and the jam was whistled off with no jammers in play.
With only 3 minutes left on the clock, the Gardas had a powerjam. Ida scored some quick points but got stopped soon after by Smokahontas. Ida scored 13 points but not before Trudy gets 8 in for the Bombshells making the score 149 – 65 with 1:45 left to play.

Brickyard squared off against Bri Zuss for the second-to-last jam when Bri Zuss got a cutting the track penalty, giving Brickyard a powerjam. Brickyard got in a few scoring passes as she slammed through the defense of Citizen Pain and Olga Ogilthorpe to get 19 points for the jam. Riotchu picked up a quick 4 points in the last jam of the night and the Bombshells win their semifinal with a final score of 172 – 65.