7th Grade Girls:
The Italy 7th Grade girls had early troubles against a lively Red Oak Life team on Monday, November 30th, inside Italy Coliseum. After trailing most of the opening quarter, the 7th Grade Girls rebounded to take a 9-8 lead with 3:11 left in the 2nd. The Red Oak Life 7th grade girl’s squad countered by scoring 6 unanswered points to take a 15-9 lead into into halftime.

Early in the 3rd, an assist from Tara Wallis to Jaclynn Lewis made the score 15-11. Then a Wallis steal and layup made the score 15-13 at the 4:30 mark.

With 4:02 on the clock, another Italy steal resulted in a fastbreak opportunity for Italy. The layup missed but Kortnei Johnson rebounded and scored on the follow, tieing the game 15-15.

Johnson was fouled on her next shot attempt and swished 1-of-2 free throws to regain the lead for Italy’s 7th grade girls 16-15. Wallis added a jumper to make the score 18-15 with 3:00 left in the 3rd. A steal by Wallis increased Italy’s advantage by 5-points, 20-15 with 2:45 to go.

With 1:29 showing, Wallis tossed in a 3-pointer to give Italy control 23-15. Wallis was fouled on her last shot attempt of the quarter and made the second of 2 free throws to give Italy a 24-15 cushion as the game moved into the final quarter.

At the 4:50 mark of the 4th, Wallis hit 2 foul shots to put Italy up 27-15. Both sides traded baskets the rest of the way as Italy’s 7th grade girls held on for the win 32-22, improving their record to 2-1.

7th Grade Boys:
Italy’s 7th grade boys squad may be fun to watch but the Red Oak Life 7th graders put on a show of their own Monday. Italy centers, Tyler Vincell and Kelton Bales made plays defensively as J.T. Escamilla and John Byers tried to squeeze the ball into the hoop.

Chace McGinnis was effective on the offensive boards while Cody Boyd provided defensive pressure. It just wasn’t enough against a talented ROL team who eventually won the contest to hand Italy’s 7th grade team their second loss of the season.

8th Grade Girls:
Tied 2-2, the Red Oak Life Lady Eagles scored 9-straight points to go up 11-2. Italy responded with 5 unanswered points to get back in the game. ROL was fouled while shooting with 0:01 left in the opening half. The Lady Eagles rebounded the miss and put it in the basket, but the refs waved it off and the score remained 11-7 going into intermission.

At the 4:15 mark of the third, Italy’s Ryisha Copeland made the score 11 -9, but ROL retaliated quickly to make the score 13-9.

The score was 13 -11, then 15 -11 in ROL’s favor when Copeland nailed a jumper with just 0:40 left in the third.

Italy’s Monserrat Figueroa blocked ROL’s shot with 0:15 remaining to keep Italy within striking distance going into the fourth period.

ROL was ahead 18-3 when Italy’s Ashley Harper was tagged with a flagrant foul. Fortunately, ROL missed both free throws.

Later, Italy’s Kendra Copeland stole the ball, but Italy could not convert it into points. ROL led 10-13 with 2:47 left in the contest.

Italy made the score 10-15 and, later, 22-17, but ROL scored the final points to hold off Italy’s relentless 8th grade girls’ squad 24-17.

8th Grade Boys:
ROL wasted no time in distancing themselves from Italy’s 8th Grade boys as they took a 12-6 lead into the second period.

ROL added 7 more points in the second while holding Italy scoreless during the 6:00 interval to take a 19-6 lead at halftime.

ROL led 22-10 at the 4:00 mark of the third, but a Daryl Mayberry 3-pointer gave the Italy squad hope, 2:59 left. ROL scored twice more to retain their big lead 26-13. Italy’s Justin Wood used a power dribble under the basket with 1:15 left to make the score 26-17 heading into the final period.

At the 5:30 mark of the fourth, Italy’s Bailey Walton made the score 26-19. Undeterred, ROL jumped to a 32-20 avantage. Walton then scored twice to keep Italy in the game 34-23. Time was not on Italy’s side as Red Oak Life’s 8th grade boys held on for a 40-30 win.