Lady Gladiators vs. Mildred Lady Eagles:
A Mildred 3-pointer, with 4:50 left in the opening quarter, propelled the Lady Eagles to a 9-0 lead over the Italy Lady Gladiators early in the Kiwanis Classic Consolation Championship game.

Italy’s Jameka Copeland fired back with a bucket to make the game 9-2 and then 1-of-2 free throws by Kaitlyn Rossa made it 9-3. Alyssa Richards then darted an on target pass down the floor but the effort resulted in a missed layup by the Lady Gladiators, a scenario that plagued Italy throughout the game.

Italy had chances to get points but missed two more open layups before the first quarter ended. Megan Richards launched a 3-pointer at the buzzer that was off the mark and Mildred had a surprising 12-3 lead heading into the second.

Surprising, since the Lady Gladiators had previously defeated Mildred twice already this season with relative ease. Struggling offensively, the Lady Gladiators drew their swords out defensively in an attempt to turn the tide.

After Mildred lead 14-3, at the 5:05 mark of the second quarter, Rossa rebounded a Mildred miss and passsed to Copeland who passed back to Rossa for the much needed 2-points. 14-5, Rossa then picked the pocket of a Lady Eagle but Mildred recovered to regain possession and then scored again to go up 16-5.

Mildred was up 17-5 when Italy’s M. Richards sparked a fast break and passed to Kyonne Birdsong for the points to make the game 17-7. Italy’s Jaleecia Fleming then drove to the basket, drawing a shooting foul, and converted 1-of-2 from the line to make the score 17-8, 1:33 left in the half.

Italy’s defense then stabbed at the ball forcing a turnover that resulted in a pass from Copeland to M. Richards who knocked down the 3-pointer to make the score 17-11. Mildred earned a trip to the line with 0:05 left but missed the front end of the 1-and-1. Mildred rebounded the miss and put it in for the buzzer-beating score to take a 19-11 advantage into intermission.

Needing a boost, the “Sisters of Swish,” Megan and Alyssa Richards, both daughters of Italy’s Assistant Basketball Coach Tina Richards, put on a clinic to rally their team.

M. Richards draws a shooting foul at 7:52 mark of the third quarter. Dropping in both free shots, Italy was slowly gathering momentum with the score 19-13. Mildred added a free throw of their own, but M. Richards added a 3-pointer to pull the Lady Gladiators within 4-points, 20-16.

Megan Richards then passed to her sister, Alyssa Richards, who shot a quick jumper to close the deficit in half 20-18. Copeland then passed to A. Richards who finished the fast break to tie the contest 20-20. Copeland then passed across the lane to A. Richards who who popped a left base line shot giving the Lady Gladiators their first lead of the game, 22-20.

Copeland added a free throw to make the score 23-20 with 3:00 left in the third. Mildred stole back the momentum, however, with 5 straight points to lead 25-23 going into the final 8 minutes.

The Lady Eagles took flight to start the fourth, running off another 10-points to take a commanding 35-23 lead, 3:20 left in the game. M. Richards finally knocked in another 3-pointer to end Italy’s drought, with 2:00 to go, making the score 35-26.

Mildred didn’t collapse. Although Rossa put in a free throw and M. Richards squeezed in one last shot to end the game, Mildred held on to win the Consolation Championship 38-29 defeating the Lady Gladiators for the first time this season.

Italy Gladiators vs. Kerens Bobcats:
Despite a pre-game blackout, both teams lit up the scoreboard in the first half. Kerens lead 1-0 to get on the board first. Then Italy’s De’Andre Sephus put the Gladiators ahead 2-1. Kerens went ahead 3-2. Italy’s Colton Campbell scored inside putting Italy back up 4-3. Kerens answered to go up 5-4.

Jasenio Anderson got inside to reclaim the lead for Italy 6-5. Sephus made it 8-5 in Italy’s favor. Kerens responded to make the game 8-7 but Italy’s John Isaac kept Italy ahead by 3-points, 10-7 with 3:05 left in the opening quarter.

Italy’s Desmond Anderson stole the ball and passed to J. Anderson who was fouled driving to the basket. J. Anderson knocked down both free shots as Italy finally had a “huge” early lead over Kerens 12-7.

Heath Clemons hit a jumper to keep Italy well in front 14-9 at the 1:59 mark. Kerens then executed a fast break that resulted in a made basket drawing the and-1. The free shot missed but the score was now 14-11 with 1:47 left in the first.

Kerens then beat Italy’s press defense for another score to make the game 14-13. With 0:38 to go, Kerens regained the lead 15-14. Clemons retaliated with a 3-pointer for Italy and the Gladiators were up 17-15.

Kerens then took off on another fast break resulting in another made basket tacking on the and-1 yet again. The bobcats missed the extra free shot but Italy lost the rebound out-of-bounds. Kerens took advantage and drained a 3-pointer to lead 20-17 with only seconds left.

Italy’s Campbell pump faked a 3-point shot and then pulled up for a deuce from the top of the lane. The shot beat the buzzer and kept the Gladiators close 20-19 moving into the second quarter.

Kerens was up 22-19 when Campbell was fouled shooting from the block. Campbell made 1-of-2 to make the game 22-20. Kerens then built a 5-point lead 25-20 with 6:29 to go in the first half. J. Anderson connected on a shot from the right elbow to keep Italy in the game 25-22.

Both sides break each other’s press defense to make the score 27-24. Italy’s Clemons then pulls off an acrobatic scoop shot to make the score 27-26. Then J. Anderson stole a Keren’s pass and raced down the floor to lay in the lead changer 28-27.

J. Anderson had to tie the game again at 30-30 with 2:48 left but Kerens made a 3-pointer to go up 33-30 at the 2:20 mark. Italy’s Jase Holden matched Kerens with a 3-pointer of his own to tie the game 33-33, 1:59 left, in front of a packed gym at Navarro College.

Kerens scored inside the lane to lead again 35-33, but moments later, J. Anderson stole the inbound pass from the Bobcats and drew a shooting foul on his way to the basket. J. Anderson hit 1-of-2 to make the score 35-34 with 0:34 left. Kerens scores again in the final seconds. A 3-pointer to tie, heaved by J. Anderson at the buzzer, was off to the left as the Bobcats held a 37-34 edge at halftime.

A Clemons free shot made the score 37-35 to start the third quarter. Kerens then powered in 6 straight points to lead 43-35 and blow open the game. Kerens lead 49-37 when a Campbell 3-pointer made it 49-40 as Italy tried to keep pace. Kerens then added 6 more to lead 55-40 with just over 3:00 left in the 3rd.

Clemons rebounded an Italy miss and put it in for the score with his left hand to make the game 55-42. Both teams traded makes and then Italy’s Isaac swished a beautiful turn around jumper along the right baseline to make the score 58-44. A few trips later, Italy’s Ryan Ascraft scores a floater over the Keren’s big man to pull Italy within 10-points 58-48.

With a stop on defense, Italy had a chance to cut the deficit under 10 but the last second layup rolled out and the score stayed 58-48 heading into the final quarter.

The final minutes belonged to Kerens. Their fast breaking ability ran away with the game. Italy only scored 13-points in the fourth while Kerens put in 27-points. In the end, the Bobcats lit up the scoreboard and turned out the lights on the Gladiators by winning the Kiwanis Classic Tournament Championship game 85-61.

There were some bright spots for the Gladiators, however, as Italy won 2-of-3 tournament games as junior point guard Jasenio Anderson and senior forward John Isaac were both named to the Kiwanis Classic All-Tournament Team.