It was about as perfect as the closing of a chapter can be.
The Lil’ Chicago Roller Derby Jaw Breakers played their final home game at the Hillcrest and skated away with a win over the Saskatoon Killa’ Bees.
Not only did their 213-138 win provide a great end to the home schedule, but it was the perfect bookend to show how far they came since they suffered a big loss to start the home season against the Killa’ Bees.
“We were expecting a close game, but we’re a different team than the team that played Saskatoon last time” said Natosha Wareham from the Jaw Breakers. “We work well together now and it’s really nice to see us gel so well together.”
While the Jaw Breakers finished their home schedule Saturday, they will finish their season this coming Saturday when they travel to Rocanville to play the Gapland Rollers.
The Killa’ Bees didn’t bring all of their first string players, but they did bring some and the difference in the play from Moose Jaw was evident in the nearly four months between meetings.
“We had some jams to did not work and we all kind of ran into each other. We also had some jams that were just perfect — everything fell in place, everything went the way it was supposed to,” said Wareham.
The Killa’ Bees might have had some newer players, but they were pretty savvy when it came to strategy and threw some different looks at the Jaw Breakers.
“It’s something you learn from every time. You learn different ways to counteract what everyone is trying,” said Wareham. “I’m sure we did stuff they hadn’t seen before. It’s always a learning experience.”
Penny Pinch Her was named the best jammer for the Jaw Breakers, while Maye C. Red was named the best blocker for the Jaw Breakers for the bout.
Lil’ Chicago will have enough space at the Hillcrest to practice, but will need to find a new venue to host games when they start up their next season.
“It’s kind of sad to look around. We’ll miss it. We’ll definitely miss it,” said Wareham.
