Columbia Basin Roller Derby falls to Wine Country Crushers in home bout

MOSES LAKE - It seemed the Wine Country Crushers were simply returning the favor when they walked away with the win over Columbia Basin Roller Derby Saturday night.

The Crushers, under coaches Derb Diggler and Mizz Bee Haven, managed to secure the lead at the end of both halves of the bout - ending the night with a total of 266 points to CBRD's 103 points.

The Crushers' win on CBRD's home track comes a few months after Columbia Basin handed them a loss on their home turf. CBRD ended a March bout at the Yakima Sun Dome with 169 points, a 41-point lead over the Crushers.

CBRD started Saturday's bout off strong, ending the first jam of the night with 13 points while the Crushers only managed to score 8 points. The Crushers claimed the lead a couple of rounds later, however, their jammer Nighmare Moon earning them 28 points in a single go.

They kept the lead until a few jams later, when CBRD's Ninja Ginja took lead jammer and brought the score to 57-51.

The Crushers' Nacho Friend took lead jammer in the next round and earned enough points to tie the two teams. CBRD's Ninja Ginja responded by earning 10 points in a later jam, allowing Columbia Basin to take back the lead 72 -62.

Their lead didn't last long, as the Crushers managed to finish the first half with 118 points to CBRD's 86 points. CBRD would have finished the first half with 76 points, but a last-minute power jam by Finkenstein earned the team 10 points right before half-time.

The Crushers kept their lead over CBRD throughout the entire second half of the bout, despite Columbia Basin producing a lead jammer in a few rounds. CBRD's P'tellher Pain earned her team some points as lead jammer, but not enough to narrow the point gap between them and the Crushers.

As the end of second half neared, the Crushers were up by more than 100 points - tallying 239 points to CBRD's 99 points after the second to the last jam.

The Crushers' Nighmare Moon made sure her team kept the lead during the last jam of the night, earning 27 points before the end of the second half. CBRD managed to score 4 points in that last round.

CBRD head coach Mark "Pepito" Villalobos said the team played hard, but had a few obstacles thrown their way during the bout. The track, he said, was one of them.

Saturday was the first time the team had played at the Grant County Fairgrounds. Their usual practice track is not as slick, said Villalobos.

"My players aren't accustomed to sliding so much," he said. "When they want to stop, they can stop, we'll just have to work on learning to skate under slippery conditions."

The team was also playing without their captain, VernDetta, who had to sit out because of an injury.