It used to be kind of a cross town rivalry. I5 practiced in the North end, and the Galaxy Girls had Ballard and Southgate. These days, you can see both of their logos on on the Southgate wall, and the rivalry is a little more intense.
These teams have traded the 1-3 spots in rankings over the past few seasons along with the Rosebuds, and any combination of those three teams? You know it's going to be a war on the track. And what a war!
It started right off the bat with Lilly Lightning heading to the box with a high block 30 seconds in allowing the other half of the speed 1-2 punch of I-5, Dee Stroir, to slam 30 points on the scoreboard, rock the Galaxy Girls back on their heals and take a 32-3 lead after one jam.
It took practically no time for the Galaxy to reorganize and get their feet. Awesome defense by a power line of Flyin Hawaiian, Rosie D KreamHer and Brutiful Beast held I5 and Beatin Bam!B slugged out a 4-0 decision. The Galaxy Girls began the climb back.
And here comes the BOOM. Lex Celerator put the star on her helmet and trusted her defense. her defesne? Delivered, holding back the Galaxy jammer and allowing Lex to increase their score by 15 on 3 quick passes before Galaxy was finally able to force the call off.
The next few jams saw some intense work from the starting whistle. Walls and modified walls (one skater in front pushing backwards on her teammates to hold the jammer within the pack and stop the "no pack call"? that's definitely a modified wall!). Both defenses were all over the jammers, allowing nothing to get through. Second and third efforts, forward cycling of blockers, pack extension after forcing the jammer out to get the max benefit... everything was on display. It was easy to see why these kids are considered some of the best in the world.
Finally, an opportunity broke in The galaxy Girls' favor. a forearm called on Dee Stroir allowed Enurgizer Bunny to score 20 in a 3-3 pack before Dee was allowed back in and scored 9 of her own! I5 maintained the lead 56-32, but things were beginning to turn for the Galaxy.
56-32
56-42
56-50
An 18 point run purely on the back of some of the fiercest defense I have seen in these past 4-5 years brought Galaxy to within 6, and I though sure they would take the lead!
The Archer took the track jamming against Bunny and threw a shoulder a tad high in the scrum and was sent to the box on a high block penalty. Bunny was off! She took the lead 64-63, but then cut the track in turn 4 allowing the Archer a chance to redeem herself. By the end of the jam, I5 barely had their hooks in a one point lead 67-66!
The next jam was 0-0, but a mere two minutes later at 12:45 left in the first half Enurgizer Bunny took the slow skate to the box for a low block with Lex on the track as the opposing jammer. I5 was once again ahead by nearly 20 at 82-66.
To give you an idea of how tough the defense was? It was taking 30-40 seconds for the jammers to get through the initial scrum. The defenses were holding SO hard that the no pack calls were extremely hard to garner. If it looked like a wall was about to crack the out of play mark, a bridge would appear and the hold would continue, or the push backwards would get more fierce. Then the jammers would be out and around on the scoring pass? And just have to get through that same tough defense.
The hits these jammers were absorbing would lay a linebacker low and they were spinning out of them, or skating on one foot after being hit to stay in, or leaping past blockers, or juking just enough to avoid the hit and be off once again. The footwork and grace? Astounding.
It was no wonder that on power jam after power jam the jammer were luck if they gained a single grand slam. At the half, I5 stood with a 21 point lead 119-98.
Over the first 10 minutes, the Galaxy Girls were doing a good job of getting lead and grabbing what few points they could before making the call. They outscored I5 30-8 in that period and grabbed their first lead of the game 128-127!
Two jams later, I5 jammer Short Fuse, took the lead back, 132-128.
It would take another 8 minutes and some more of that incredible defense actively penalty killing against power jams before Bam!B snagged the lead again (144-142) with 15 minutes left. It is a testament to that defense that the finakl 15 minutes of the half only saw the score advance by approximately 30 points.
At 2:00 left, the Galaxy Girls found themselves on top by 5 at 173-168. The jammers were off and slugged their way through. On the scoring ass, SDB jammer Poison Izzie skated out of bounds avoiding slamming into the back of an I5 wall and got sent to the box for her trouble. Maya Massacre had all the power, but only managed to gain four before calling it off. at 172-173.
00:00:40 left. Lex Celerator gets the star with Poison Izzie in the box, and down by 1. She took the single Grand Slam and skated out the clock. I5 wins 177-173!
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