Italy Invitational Tournament – Day 1

First Italy Game: Italy Lady Gladiators vs. Mildred:
In the first Italy game of the Italy Invitational Tournament, the Lady Gladiators(5-1) jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the Mildred Lady Eagles with 4:00 left in the first quarter. Mildred battled back but still trailed Italy 16-11 going into the 2nd.

In the second, Italy Freshman Alyssa Richards had a productive scoring quarter as the Lady Gladiators enjoyed a 29-20 lead at intermission.

The Lady Eagles outscored Italy 12-6 in the third to close the gap 35-32.

The Lady Gladiators responded by scoring 6-points in the first minute of the fourth. By the 5:40 mark, Italy Head Coach Stacy McDonald had her girls back in control 47-36.

Italy’s Jameka Copeland had one of her best games thus far in 2009 directing Italy’s offense and running the fast break. Senior Jaleecia Fleming and sophomores Jimesha Reed, Kaitlyn Rossa, Megan Richards and Kyonne Birdsong took advantage of scoring opportunities in the second half to route the Lady Eagles 60-42.

Second Italy Game: JV Gladiators vs. Palmer (Varsity):
Italy’s JV Gladiators took an early 4-0 lead over the Palmer Bulldogs Varsity squad. Later, Palmer was ahead 7-6 when Italy’s Jase Holden swished a 3-pointer to regain the lead for Italy’s JV with 4:15 left in the first quarter.

The unusual match-up was knotted 11-11 when Gladiator Kyle Jackson connected on a 3-point bomb to give Italy JV Head Coach Larry Mayberry’s exciting squad a 14-11 advantage going into the second quarter.

Palmer’s defense struggled to slow down the fast breaking Italy’s JV Gladiators who built a 17-11 cushion and eventually lead 28-22 at the break.

The Italy JV remained in control throughout the third quarter with a Bubba Itson 3-pointer giving the young Gladiators a 38-26 lead. The Bulldogs fought back but another Holden 3-point basket gave Italy’s JV a 6-point window heading into the final frame, 41-35.

Palmer, desperately not wanting to lose to Italy’s JV squad, managed to tie the game 48-48 with 1:46 left.

Moments later, Palmer gets fouled shooting and hits 1-of-2 free throws, retaking the lead for the first time since the 4:45 mark of the first quarter. Both sides traded one final basket, as the Palmer Varsity survived their first game of the tournament, defeating Italy’s talented JV Gladiators 51-50.

Third Italy Game: Italy Gladiators vs. Mildred:
The Italy Gladiators trailed 3-0 after Mildred opened the game with a 3-pointer. Italy soon took over, however, and lead 19-13 at the end of the first quarter.

At the 5:40 mark of the second, a Jasenio Anderson assist to John Isaac made the score 27-16. Moments later, back-to-back steals for lay-ups by Desmond Anderson made the score 35-16 as Italy went into halftime with a 40-28 advantage over Mildred.

The Gladiators continued to roll in the third, capitalizing off the havoc created by their press defense. Mildred continued to lose ground as Italy was well in front, 56-41, going into the final quarter.

In the fourth, the Gladiators finished the game with back-to-back 3-pointers from Oscar Gonzalez and a buzzer-beater by De’Andre Sephus to move past the Mildred Eagles 84-49.