By Valerie Hurtinelli

The Naptown Roller Girls put up a fierce fight against the 20th ranked Arch Rivals Roller Girls of St. Louis during the March 21st bout in the Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion, Great Brawls of Fire. The Tornado Sirens’ jamming contingent-fully charged with the return of Blazin’ Ace and Slammy Faye-came out skating (and hitting) hard against the Arch Rivals’ well-oiled defensive machine. It was anyone’s bout for the first period, with Naptown trailing by just two points with one jam to go before the halftime whistle. But St. Louis had one more power jam up its pink sleeve-a 10-point scorcher that took the halftime score to 45 to 33 in its favor.

ARRG kept its lead for the remainder of the bout, in spite of an inspired NRG offense and huge, deficit-shaving jams in the second period. Both teams put on fantastic shows of strength and strategy. The fight to the finish ended in a score of 93 to 60, with St. Louis going home with the win.