Halfway Through the QCRG Home Team Season

The regular home team season hit its halfway mark in late February when the Alley Kats beat the Suicidal Saucies in a close game on February 24th in front of a sell-out crowd at Buffalo Riverworks.

Each team met once so far this season with the Alley Kats coming out on top with a 2-0 record. The Devil Dollies are 0-2 after falling to both the Kats and the Saucies in tough games and the Saucies are 1-1 after a 183-114 win over the Dollies and a close game lost to the Kats .

It’s been quite the season so far.

Kats v Dollies
Photo by Rene T. Van Ee

In the traditional repeat of the QCRG Championship game the Alley Kats and Devil Dollies Dollies met up in the first game of the season on January 20. The Kats owned the game from the beginning through the last jam although the Dollies certainly didn’t make it easy for them. The Dollies were down some key players including two jammers: Nic Nugget and McCreadie. They pulled up She-Hulk who plays on the Subzero Sirens and she pitched in as blocker and jammer.

Jammer Sweeny Quad defined the work persistence in that game and it won out when she finally caught ground towards the end of the first period. The rookie Mortu Mary had some penalty trouble but she was able to get through the walls and was the first Dollie jammer to put points on the board. She-Hulk had the best jam of the first period, bringing in 18 points and the Dollies closed out the first period 122-84.

The Kats steadily rotated through their experienced jammer bench of Necromatrix, Karsmashian, Evil Lyn Cognito and Bang Grrrang who earned a combined lead jam status 72% in the first period. They took full advantage of power jams and only gave up two of their own.

During the second period the Kats dropped down to only 57% of lead jam status, as the Dollies gained some traction against the Kats blocker lines. However, when the Dollies did ear lead jam they sometimes called the jam off too late and the Kats were able to sneak in a few points to keep the scoreboard in their favor.

Penalties were more heavily on the Kats side although both teams had a player foul out in the last couple of jams. Lip Service fouled on on the Dollies side and PaulverizHer on the Kats side. The Kats took 45 total trips to the box and the Dollies took only 36.

The Kats took a solid win with a final score of 233-171.

Dollies v Saucies
Photo by Jim Bush

The second game of the home team season on February 4 repeated the 2016 Playoffs game between the Suicidal Saucies and the Devil Dollies.

Both teams have new coaching this season. Blackrock Bruiser and Val du Morte have taken on the Saucies and Mr. Murph, Murphy and Bricks Hit-House are coaching the Devil Dollies. Both bring solid Furies strategies and intensity to their practices and teamwork on the track.

The Saucies were short regular jammers at this point in the season with Te’Killya Sunrise and Chet UpStandUp on leave. That left Sigourney Cleaver and Vile Love It as regular jammers and Rosi skating double duty as blocker and jammer. Pearl, Poisonous Peaches, Her Heiny Granger and Beatrix Boom took turns with the jammer star during the game as well.

The Saucies kept their penalties low in the first period with only 9 total penalties and only 22 for the entire game. The Dollies had 14 in the first with 32 total penalties. The Saucies were able to earn lead jam 69% in the first period with the Dollies locking down their defense in the second and the teams split lead jam 50/50. At halftime the score sat at 89-43 with the Saucies in the lead.

In the second period the Dollies put out a more solid defense and their jammers were able to get through the Saucies’ walls more adeptly and they scored 71 points in the second period, whereas the Saucies only scored 94 points. But the Saucies still took home their first win since early in the 2016 season.

Kats v Saucies
Photo by Jim Bush

The Alley Kats and the Suicidal Saucies met in their first game on February 24, since May 2016 when the Kats took a huge win 261-165.

In the game on February 24th, the Alley Kats took the lead during the second period and never gave it up. The Saucies kept it close until mid-way through the first period when the Kats held the Saucies scoreless for 7 jams. The Kats earned lead 54% of the time in the first period and their jammers were able to force early call offs by the Saucies or were able to steal points at the end of the jam. The teams went into halftime 91-62 with the Kats in the lead.

The Kats started off the second period with a power start and Vile Love It, jamming for the Saucies, unintentionally gave them 2 additional power jams as she sat with back to back jammer penalties. The Saucies defense worked to stem the scoring and limited the Kats to only 22 points during that time period.

Saucies jammer Rosi blocked during the first period and in the second she donned the star cover and grabbed 25 points in her first jam and brought her team within striking distance 116-95. Two jams later Rosi was back out and collected 21 more points. Not too long after that she grabbed 18 points for the Saucies. With Rosi jamming for the Saucies they split the lead jam stat with the Kats 50-50 but the Kats maintained their lead throughout the Saucies second period push and took the win 195-179.

The second half of the season starts up on Sunday, March 12th when the Suicidal Saucies and the Devil Dollies meet up again in their annual Hell on Wheels game. The first whistle blows shortly after 3 p.m. Tickets are available at qcrg.net/tickets and at the door.

~Written by Vile LoveIt