Empire Skate Showdown recap - part 1

Photo by Hazmatt

The Hellions of Troy Roller Derby League earned a top three finish at the 2nd Annual New York State all-female flat track roller derby tournament "Empire Skate Showdown", hosted by the Long Island Roller Rebels in Old Bethpage, NY on Saturday, September 3, 2011. Nine New York teams participated in a total of seventeen thirty minute challenge bouts during the double-elimination tournament.

Double elimination meant that one loss would send a team down to the losers bracket, still with a chance to win the rest of their games to still come in on top.  A second loss could mean elimination from the tournament.

The Hellions scored their first win over the Hudson Valley Horrors (Kingston, NY) with a score of 67 - 40. The game started off fast. Like....insanely fast. The first couple jams it seemed that both teams want to use a strategy of racing the pack. This couldn't be maintained by either team, which slowed the pace of the jams down (which also works!)

Photo by Sean Hale/Hale Yeah

Our next match was against Roc City Roller Derby of Rochester, NY. The Hellions took a strong lead in the first 15 minutes, but after calling a team time out, Rochester rallied to shorten the gap to under 10 points. The Hellions held strong in the remaining minutes and held onto the lead with a final score of 74-71.

Taking advantage of a power jam.
Photo by Sean Hale/Hale Yeah.

Two wins secured a spot in the quarter finals, where the Hellions faced Central New York Roller Derby (CNYRD), from Utica, NY...

Stay tuned for Part 2!