Calamity Janes 66, Hudson Valley Horrors 69

June 28, 2008

The Calamity Janes’ second bout was another down-to-the-wire finish, with the Hudson Valley Horrors coming out ahead by a scant three points at the final buzzer.

The game started with two swift and brutal jams in which the Janes’ offense could not break the defensive blocking by the Horrors, leaving them 15 – 1 at the end of jam two after an 11 point jam by the speedy and savvy Horror jammer Lolita LeBruise. In jam three the Janes started a slow rally and started winning jams, keeping the Horrors from scoring in four out of the next seven jams and narrowing the deficit to eight points by the time the clock hit a little more than halfway through the period. The first period ended with the Janes leading by one point, 36 – 37, with 25 of those points scored by Janes’ jammer Itsy Bitsy Fighter.

The second period saw both teams struggling with penalties, and the score was often tight with the Horrors in the lead despite their jammers frequently hitting the penalty box. The Horrors consistently demonstrated tough replacement blocking that kept the Janes constantly struggling to get their jammers through without sacrificing their hold on the Horror jammers, particularly Lolita LeBruise and Rough Gem. But the Janes put up a gritty fight of their own with tenacious blocking by all, particularly Trouble&Strife, Jeni-vicious, Wrex Zilla, and Fist City Kitty. Also notable was the scrappy jamming by Maulie MacKillem, The Zipper, and especially Itsy Bitsy Fighter, who once again scored the lion’s share of the second period points. As the period neared its end, the Horrors lead 69 – 62. The Janes held them at 69 for three jams, including a zero-sum second-to-last jam, but by the final whistle they had only come within three points of the Horrors, who captured the win at 69 – 66.