Keweenaw Roller Derby jammer Suomi Slammer (753) tries to pass the star over MSRD blockers The Avanator (333), Dizzy Dame (241), and Tijuana Slammer (3213) during a match Saturday at the Calumet Colosseum. (Kent Kraft/For the Gazette)

CALUMET — Mid-State Roller Derby (MSRD) skated up from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to take on Keweenaw Roller Derby (KRD) on Saturday. The heat and the competition were both searing with huge hits on both sides, but MSRD hit heavier in the end, skating away with a 180-89 win.

Before the match begins, no one knows how it will end. Frequently in roller derby bouts, there is a lot of back and forth with teams trading the lead.

In their last bout, KRD took a very early lead and never looked back. They were on the opposite end of that this bout, however. Only seven minutes in, KRD was already down 27-9. MSRD extended that lead dramatically throughout the first half and went into halftime with a 90-31 lead.

In any sport with a halftime break, teams evaluate how things have gone and try to make adjustments to come out strong in the second half. Kim Kong was the first jammer in the second half for KRD and had a blistering jam, scoring 16 unanswered points. As a team, there also seemed to be a strategy to employ more “star pass” moves in the second half to try to get past the stifling MSRD defense.

The jammers can be identified by the star cover they have over their helmets during the jam. Each team has four other players on the track for each jam as blockers, but one of them will also have a cover over their helmet with a straight front-to-back line. This player is known as the pivot. If a jammer is having trouble passing the other team’s defenders during a jam, they can perform a “star pass” meaning they take the star cover off of their helmet and pass it to the pivot who now becomes the jammer for their team.

The MSRD jammers managed to find every hole possible to slip through and start scoring points, their defense closed up every hole and kept the KRD jammers stuck behind. While the star passes were often effective for KRD, the new jammers had to play catch up and try to get around the track to score points before MSRD called off the jam.

Frequently, that proved to be too little, too late.

As a team, KRD dug deep throughout the second half to score 58 points, compared to only 31 in the first half. MSRD managed to repeat their dominant first half, however, scoring yet another 90 points. Given the oppressive heat in the colosseum, both teams impressed by scoring a combined 148 points in the second half, compared to only 121 in the first half.

Most Valuable Player awards were given out to KRD skaters Suomi Slammer (jammer) and Amelia HitsHart (blocker) and MSRD skaters Tijuana Slammer (jammer) and The Avanator (blocker).

UP NEXT

The KRD squad hosts their final home game of the season against the Kingsford Krush on Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. in the Calumet Colosseum, with doors opening at 5 p.m.