The punky Apex Pistols hosted the funky Brick House Betties in the roller derby ring inside the Whistler Conference Centre Saturday night.
The annual event is part of the World Ski and Snowboarding Fest, but this year鈥檚 Splatterday Night Fever bout had an unexpected turn.
In recent years, the event has featured Squamish鈥檚 Sea to Sky Sirens taking on the home-side Black Diamond Betties.
鈥淣ormally, we play Whistler in this bout,鈥� said Siren captain Lindsay Leathem, otherwise known as Rowdy Roddy Pippa.
However, the two Corridor teams joined forces as the Apex Pistols for this year鈥檚 event to take on a tough Brick House team from the Courtenay/Comox region.
鈥淲e thought it would be a great idea to just up the ante,鈥� she said.
In addition to Leathem, the Siren members included Mala Justed (Shannon Handley), Toxic Haste (Mabel Vautravers), Sweetie Gonzales (Carin Smolinski), Honey Badger (Genevieve Medrano), Princess Slayah (Lori O'Hare), The Fighting Mongoose (Amil Dupuis-Rossi), Purr Fect Lee Legal (Jessie Cameron) and Poison IV (Natalie Moffat).
Following warm-ups, the Brick House Betties skated out to their theme, the funk classic 鈥淏rick House鈥� by the Commodores, in flashy disco-inspired duds and Afro wigs.
The Apex team, taking anarchistic inspiration from the Sex Pistols, followed by entering the rink to the sounds of the band, with several donning variations of blue Mohawks.
After the player introductions and a power-chord heavy, Hendrix-at-Woodstock guitarist鈥檚 take on 鈥淥 Canada,鈥� the teams braced for battle.
The Pistols rolled out front early during the second jam, as lead jammer Mala Justed turned a power jam into a 25-0 lead. The team continued to run up its lead, as Mala Justed, the slippery Honey Badger and other lead jammers were able to rack up points through many of the rounds.
After 21 jams, the Pistols skated off at the half with a 113-36 lead, but the match flipped in the second half, as the Betties narrowed the margin, running up the points while taking advantage of a number of Pistol penalties.
The Betties chipped away but never quite got within striking distance of the Pistols, and with time winding down, Mala Justed added four points during the second last jam to give the Pistols a 168-139 lead. The last round finished scoreless, giving the hosts the win.
In the end, the Siren鈥檚 Handley, a.k.a. Mala Justed, was chosen as the team鈥檚 most valuable player for the match.
While the Sirens and Whistler鈥檚 Betties usually compete against each other, the team members seemed to mesh naturally in the rink and on the sidelines.
The Sirens have begun their season, although because of the renovation work on the arena surface inside Brennan Park, they have no home matches this year.
