Italy’s 7th grade girls vs. Palmer:
Not in the mood to fetch sticks, instead, Italy’s 7th grade girls were ready to play ball as they leaped to an early lead over Palmer.

Jaclynn Lewis scored the first 6-points of the game for Italy followed by a free throw from Madison “Mad Dog” Washington to make the Italy lead 7-2. Tara Wallis made 1-of-2 free throws to put Italy up 8-2 with and then drove the right baseline to give Italy a 10-2 edge.

With 1:19 left in the 1st, Alex Minton swished in a jump shot and then followed that with a 3-pointer increasing Italy’s lead 15-4 as the game headed into the 2nd quarter.

Italy appeared to be the only dog that showed up to the fight after another bucket by Wallis put Italy up 17-4. A loose ball recovered by Italy quickly added two more points under “Home” on the scoreboard after Lewis banked it off the glass for an easy deuce, 19-4 Italy.

Palmer didn’t rollover and caught Italy napping on an inbound pass under the Lady Bulldog’s basket, 19-6 Italy. Palmer was awarded a technical foul and made 1-of-2, 19-7 Italy. Palmer added 2-points and then Italy’s Washington scored on a drive to the basket to make the score 21-9.

The Lady Bulldogs kept scrapping and piled on 4 more to close the gap 21-13 as the 2nd quarter came to a close.

Washington scored inside and then finished the fast break with an assist from Wallis to put Italy up 25-13. Lewis scored with 1:55 left in the 2nd followed by back-to-back buckets from Wallis to give Italy some elbow room, 31-13.

Palmer scored next and then scored again via a 3-point bomb before the buzzer signaling the end of the 3rd, alerting the “Girls in Gold” that this match wasn’t over yet, 31-18 Italy.

In the 4th, Palmer made the score 31-20 and then Italy’s Lewis made the score 33-20 with 4:15 remaining in the game. Palmer pulled within 8, 36-28. Italy’s coach, Tina Richards, called a timeout and inserted fresh legs into the lineup.

Palmer managed the final 4 points of the game but it was too little, too late as Italy’s Makenzie Davis-Goodwin dribbled out the remaining hopes for any last second Palmer heroics. Italy’s 7th grade girls improve to 5-2 on the season with a 36-32 win over Palmer.

Italy scoring:

Palmer high scorer:

Italy’s 8th Grade Girls vs. Palmer:
It was a battle of wills between Italy’s and Palmer’s 8th grade girls basketball teams in the 1st quarter. Italy’s Taylor Turner and Bernice Hailey lead the Lady Gladiator defensive effort in what proved to be a defense contest throughout.

Neither side was willing to budge until Italy’s Ryisha Copeland nailed a jumper to give Italy a 2-0 lead after the 1st.

In the 2nd, Italy’s 8th grade was held scoreless while Palmer managed a bucket and a free throw to lead at intermission 3-2. Despite the low scoring affair, the game remained intense and became very physical in the 2nd half.

Palmer added another bucket in the 3rd but R. Copeland put in another 4-points for Italy and Monserrat Figueroa added another as the Lady Gladiators reclaimed the lead 8-5 moving into the final quarter.

Palmer hit 5-of-11 free throws in the final 6:00 plus one field goal but the home town girls scored 5-points in the 4th to win by 1-point. Figueroa and Ashley Harper both scored buckets and Kendra Copeland added a free throw as Italy held off the Palmer comeback to win 13-12.

Whether the game ended 113-112 or 13-12, it’s still a 1-point win for Italy and Lady Gladiator fans will gladly take it!

Italy scoring:

Italy Jr High Boys Scores:

• 7th grade: 21 – 15 Palmer
• 8th grade: 34 – 29 Italy