It may not seem all that obvious, but winning roller derby matches requires strategy as much as ability. The Appalachian Rollergirls used a counter measure to take a big lead on the Carolina Bootleggers at the Holmes Center Saturday night.

It paid off with a 111-96 victory after taking a big lead in the first half. The Bootleggers were using a tactic to free their jammer, but the Rollergirls were ready for it and foiled it.

That gave the Roller Girls a 23-8 lead early in the first half.

“I feel like we did a good job countering their strategies,” Rollergirl Megan Carmody said. “We came up with a strategy to hold up their jammer really well and it worked the whole first half. They finally gave up on that and they started to get the jam started.”

The Roller Girls improved their record to 7-0. Their victory over the Bootleggers, who are based in Raleigh, gave ARG a 4-0 record at the Holmes Center.

The Rollergirls have two road matches left in their season. Going unbeaten is one of the team’s goals. The Bootleggers are the ‘B’ team to Raleigh’s ‘A’ team, which is one of the better teams on the regional and national circuits.

“We knew Carolina would be a tough game,” Carmody said. “Our goal all along was to compete with the large market ‘B’ teams — the Atlantas, the Charleston’s and the Nashvilles. I think we’ve surpassed some of the ‘A’ teams.”

The Rollergirls surpassed the Bootleggers by getting 45 points from Shannon Hampton, who goes by the ARG name of Diesel Pusher. Sarah Holt (Miss Scarah) finished with 31 points and Nell Lawrence (Nell Raiser) finished with 23.

The crowd of around 2,000 started arriving well before the 7 p.m. start. Some fans were tailgating in the Holmes Center parking lot an hour before the match started.

“We’re athletes and it’s fun,” Carmody said of the team’s popularity. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, the names are a hoot and that’s part of the appeal.”