Pistoffs sneak by Pistolwhippers, 77-67

Posted on January 14, 2008

by Rusty Wheeler — Jan 13, 2008

The Detroit Pistoffs trailed most of the way, but they mounted a late comeback to finally defeat the Pistolwhippers 77-67 in a very defensive struggle in the Drill Hall at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, January 12, in a game played in front of an oversold crowd. Although the Pistolwhippers were without two of their best skaters, Honey Suckit and Killbox, they led 34-25 after the first period and 49-41 at the 2nd intermission. The ‘Whippers continued to hold the lead until the 9th jam of the final period when the Pistoffs took the lead and then held it until the end of the contest. This game set a Detroit Derby Girls record with the lowest combined score. The Pistoffs have always been the most defensive oriented of the DDG teams, and they showed why.

Going into this game, some people wondered if the Pistolwhippers would have any chance at all, as the ‘Whippers were without Honey Suckit and Killbox, the 2nd and 3rd highest regular season scorers in DDG history. Killbox is also a very hard-nosed defender, leading the league in most penalties and fairly earning her “most feared skater” in the DDG for two years in a row. But, derby must go on, even without all of a team’s skaters, and in that respect the Pistolwhippers team managers Scarlette Fever and Jam Onya (assisted for this game by Honey and Killbox) did a commendable job in motivating their skaters to “hang tough” with the Pistoffs. The ‘Whippers did also have the services of Rock Candy, a veteran two-way player who was subbing courtesy of the Devil’s Night Dames. It should also be noted that the Pistoffs were missing veteran blocker Smashing Darling who was sidelined with an injury.

Cassie Corridor opened the scoring in the 1st jam of period 1, outscoring the Pistoffs Rude Awakening to give the ‘Whippers a quick 4-0 lead. But then Effin’ Money tied it for the Pistoffs in the 2nd jam at 4-4. Jam 3 saw the Pistoffs go ahead 8-7 as Vega Vendetta bested Rock Candy 4-3. That was to be the last Pistoffs lead until very late in the game. In jam 4, Kat Von D’Stroya scored a Grand Slam and a 5-0 jam over Effin’ Money, and the ‘Whippers led 12-8. The highest scoring jam of the 1st period came in jam 11 when the Pistoffs Cookie Rumble and ‘Whippers Del Bomber skated to an 8-8 jam in a jam that had no lead jammer and so went the full 2 minutes. The period was fairly evenly played, the ‘Whippers got 6 lead jams to the Pistoffs 5 leads. Kat Von D’Stroya jammed four times, getting lead each of those jams, and outscored the Pistoffs 10-0 in those jams. And she usually got lead jam within 15 seconds of the start of the jam. In jam 6, Kat had lead jammer but got sent to the penalty box after scoring 2 points. Her teammates held off the Pistoffs jammer, Violet-N-Deed, for the full two minute jam without allowing Violet to score. In the period, whichever jammer managed to get lead jammer would come around and score and then call the jam before the other jammer could score. The entire period was close blocking, the Pistoffs failing to score in 6 of the 12 jams, and the ‘Whippers being held scoreless in 3 jams.

In period 2, Cassie Corridor of the ‘Whippers got lead jammer in the 1st jam, but got knocked down and couldn’t call it off before the Pistoffs Effin’ Money scored a point. The Pistolwhippers built their lead to 16 points, 44-28, after 5 jams although the Pistoffs did somewhat close the gap and the ‘Whippers led by only 8 points at the end of the 2nd period. This period was even more defensive than the 1st, with the Pistoffs outscoring the Pistolwhippers in the period by a 16-15 margin. The ‘Whippers were shutout in 8 of the 13 jams, and the Pistoffs were blanked in 7 jams. Vega Vendetta did manage to skate to a 7-0 advantage for the Pistoffs in jam 6 when the ‘Whippers Cassie Corridor got sent to the box. That jam also featured a hard blindside hit by the Pistoffs Cookie Rumble on Holly Crap. But most of the rest of the jams were merely an exercise in blocking if not in scoring. I noted at the time that the first two periods featured “slow grinding defense.” There was a brief scare in jam 5 when the Pistoffs Elle McFearsome got knocked down in the pack and got (accidentally) kicked in the helmet. She was a little slow to get up after that, but then did arise and appeared to be OK the rest of the game.

The 3rd period got more lively, and really got the crowd fired up. Effin’ Money tried to start a Pistoffs comeback in jam 1 with a 4-1 win over Rock Candy. After a scoreless 2nd jam, Cassie Corridor took advantage of the Pistoffs jammer Effin’ Money going to the penalty box and dealt a 6-3 jam win for the Pistolwhippers to regain an 8 point lead, 56-48, at that point. And in the next two jams, the ‘Whippers fans were getting delirious as the ‘Whippers Del Bomber and Kat Von D’Stroya outscored the Pistoffs 8-0 to get to a 64-48 lead, tying the ‘Whippers biggest lead of the game at 16 points. But then Pistoffs Captain Cookie Rumble took charge of the game in jam 6, outscoring Cassie Corridor 9-0 to cut the ‘Whippers lead to 64-57. It was the turn of the Pistoffs fans to start cheering loudly. Then in jams 7, 9, and 10 the Pistoffs jammers Effin’ Money, Elle McFearsome, and Effin’ (again) rang up 16 Pistoffs points while the Pistoffs blockers were shutting out the ‘Whippers in those jams. The Pistoffs jammers scored Grand Slams in the last two of those jams. Suddenly, the Pistoffs, who had been trailing by 16 points, were in the lead 73-64. In the middle of that run, in jam 8, the Pistolwhippers started the jam with their jammer in the box, and then Pistoffs jammer Cookie Rumble got whistled to the box only a few seconds after the jam started, so play was stopped (the rules say you can’t continue a jam with both jammers in the penalty box, besides, there’s no point in playing without jammers!) and each team had to pick a player from the track to become their jammer in a new jam. Time was now running short for the Pistolwhippers, but they gave it a game try until the end. The ‘Whippers Kat Von D’Stroya got lead jammer in jam 11 but was only able to skate to a 3-3 tie against Cookie Rumble. Then the Pistoffs got lead jammer in the final two jams of the period and were able to call the jams just when the ‘Whippers got within smelling distance of the pack and so the ‘Whippers could not score to close the gap. The game ended in a win for the Pistoffs by a 77-67 score, although the Pistolwhippers gave them a scare and a skate for their money! And even though the teams fought down to the wire, they skated a fairly clean game as exemplified just before the final jam of the game when jammers Cookie Rumble and Del Bomber exchanged pleasantries just before the whistle blew and they then started trying to out skate the other.

Leading scorer in the game was Effin’ Money of the Pistoffs with 30 points while jamming 14 times, getting 6 leads and scoring 2 Grand Slams. Other Pistoffs scorers: Cookie Rumble (20 pts, 5 jams, 2 leads, 1 slam); Vega Vendetta (15 pts, 5 jams, 3 leads, 1 slam); Elle McFearsome (9 pts, 5 jams, 2 leads, 1 slam); Violet-N-Deed (2 pts, 5 jams, 2 leads); Justass (1 pt, 3 jams, 1 lead); Rude Awakening (0 pts, 1 jam). The Pistolwhippers got fairly even scoring from a four jammer rotation, lead by Cassie Corridor with 20 points in 11 jams with 6 leads. Other Pistolwhippers scorers: Del Bomber (17 pts, 6 jams, 3 leads); Kat Von D’Stroya (16 pts, 10 jams, 7 leads, 3 slams); Rock Candy (14 pts, 10 jams, 3 leads).

Leading blocker of the game was Most Valuable Player of the game Cookie Rumble of the Pistoffs with 27 defensive blocks and 22 assists. Bikini Killer also skated another fine defensive game for the Pistoffs with 21 blocks and 11 assists. The Pistolwhippers Diesel Doll was outstanding with 30 defensive blocks as was Cold Fusion with 23 blocks and 10 assists.

The Pistoffs are now pretty well assured of regaining a trip to the championship game to attempt to regain their championship they last won in 2006 as they lead the league with a 2-0 record. They have one remaining game vs. the Devil’s Night Dames on April 12. The Pistolwhippers are all but eliminated from maintaining their current 2007 championship as they are now 0-2, with one game remaining vs. the D-Funk Allstars on March 8. The ‘Whippers must win their game and then hope that both D-Funk and the Pistoffs can defeat the Dames in order for the ‘Whippers to have a chance to return to the championship game for 2008. The DDG championship will be decided between the two teams with the best record. That championship game will be played on May 10.

The next DDG game is Saturday, February 9, featuring the 1-0 Devil’s Night Dames with Racer McChaseHer vs. the 0-1 D-Funk Allstars of Black Eyed Skeez. The D-Funk won the first two matches between these two teams, 146-102 in 2006 and 204-131 in 2007, so it promises to be a high-scoring game. Come down to the Drill Hall in the historic Masonic Temple in downtown Detroit, Michigan and enjoy every hard-hitting, fast-skating jam! Doors open at 6:00pm, game starts at 7:00pm. Tickets are $12 in advance, and $15 at the door. The January 12 game was sold out, so buy your tickets early to avoid getting shut out of watching your favorite sport–derby! Children 12 and younger are free with an adult. Check out http://www.detroitderbygirls.com for more information.

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