Game 1
Coached by Michelle Stephens, Italy Gold (1st, 2nd Coed) defeated Italy White Coached by Michelle Petry. Italy Gold’s Virginia Stephens, with her best game of the season, helped on defense and rebounding after Kaylea Davis, Ricky Pendleton, and Taron Smith hit their pregame layups. Jaylon Davis scored a 2-point bucket, Pendleton hit 2-points also. C.C. Jones swished a free throw at halftime and Smith finished with 22-points to secure a 29-12 win. Italy White’s Zoriah Burley and Jacob Wiser applied the defensive pressure while Kreana Hurtt, Jace McIntyre and Addison Anderson all finished with 3-points. Jacee Coffman scored 1-point on a layup and 1-point by making a free throw. Cason Roberts scored his opening layup but Italy Gold held on for the win.

Coach Stephens was choked up after the game when she stated, “I was just so happy to see the ball being shared and many players scoring. I was really glad to see kids going after rebounds that had been reluctant to do so earlier in the season. These were the areas we have been trying to improve on and the team showed improvement today.”

Game 2
Italy Gold, coached by Jordan Hugghins, made some nice plays against Italy White but in the end, Italy White coached by Misty Escamilla, prevailed winning 30-17. Nathan Gomez worked hard on the boards while Tylan Wallace led the charge for Italy White scoring 15-points. Gary Scott Escamilla scored 6-points and James McIntyre made 5-points. James Walton, Payton Grant, Cade Roberts and Chasston Wilson each scored 1 free throw for Italy White’s cause.

Italy Gold hung in there thanks to the 10-point shooting effort from David DeLahoya. Colton Allen, Austin Dannenbaum, Byron Lusk and Isaac Salcido pushed the ball up court the whole game and scrambled on defense. Jared Gatlin put in 2-points. Alex Hernandez, Ty Hamilton, Dustin Gettles and Adrian Acevedo scored 1-point each. Unfortunately for Coach Hugghins, Italy White just had too many weapons.

Game 3
Coached by Barry Byers, Italy 23 (5th, 6th Girls) defeated Hillsboro Black 25-9. Hillsboro Black only lost by 4-points to Italy 23 back in Week 4 and were hoping this might be their day. Italy managed to execute their defensive game plan and shutdown Hillsboro’s offensive threats and only allowed 1 basket during the game.

Jennifer McDaniel helped Italy’s defensive cause as the “Girls In Gold” held Hillsboro scoreless in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Jaclynn Lewis led all scores with 7-points, floor General Tara Wallis had 5-points, KaBreona Davis had 4-points, Tylar Wilson and Madison Washington had 3-points each, McKenzie Davis had 2-points (including her 1st free throw ever) and Hannah Washington scored 1-point as well.

Game 4
Italy coached by Scott Roberts took care of business against Hillsboro Royal Blue handing them a 23-15 loss. Italy began by trailing 8-4 but systematically dismantled Hillsboro and took a 10-8 lead into halftime. Ryan “The Threat” Connor scored 8-points. Colton Petry put in 6-points and Caden Petry made 3-points. The always hustling Levi McBride scored 1-point, Thomas Crowell nailed a 1-point shot and Noah Ramirez put in a 1-point as well.

Game 5
Italy coached by Shedrick Walker came from behind to beat Hillsboro Maroon 32-27. Italy was trailing 25-24 at the end of the 3rd quarter but Hillsboro only managed 1 basket in the 4th. Italy, however, relied on point guard John Escamilla’s 4-points (7 total), Lance McClendon’s 2-points (5 total) and two free throws by Tony Wilson (3 total) to seal the deal in the final period. Pitching in on the scoring effort were Lamondre Johnson with 5-points, Daren Cisneros with 6-points and Jesse Wingo with 6-points.

The remaining Italy squads played in Hillsboro on Saturday. The IYAA season has officially two more weeks left so if you haven’t seen that someone special play yet, next Saturday will be great time to come see them in action. Once again, all the games will be played in the Old Italy Gym.

Good Luck Lil’ Gladiators!