Italy Gladiators vs. Waxahachie Advantage:
Head coach Kyle Holley’s starting five consisted of seniors Desmond Anderson, Aaron Thomas, Dan Crownover, Oscar Gonzalez and John Isaac. Despite all the experience in Italy’s lineup, Waxahachie Advantage came ready to shock the world and jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

Italy’s Isaac brought the Eagles back down to earth and put in 3 quick baskets to put Italy up 6-5. A lead the Gladiators would hold for the remainder of the game.

In fact, Italy went on to score 34-points in the 1st quarter while the Eagles only managed 7. Isaac and Ryan Ashcraft scored 8-points each and Heath Clemons put in 7-points, including a 3-pointer, to lead the scoring surge for Italy.

In the 2nd, Center Larry Mayberry lead the way with 12-points. Aaron Thomas scored 6 and De’Andre Sephus added 5 more points, including a pretty 3-pointer, as Italy had a 31-point 2nd quarter to build a 65 to 17 lead at halftime.

Sephus put in 6-points, going 4-of-4 from the line, to lead the scoring for the Gladiators in the 3rd. Colton Campbell dropped in a 3-pointer as well as Italy outscored the Eagles 21-12 during the quarter to lead 86-29 going into the 4th.

With the game clock on hyper-speed, D. Anderson hit a 3-pointer while scoring all 5 of his points in the final quarter. Ashcraft pulled off a 3-point play the old fashioned way and Oscar Gonzalez scored 2-points as Italy finished with an 18-point 4th quarter, to break the century mark, and win 104-40 over Waxahachie Advantage.

The Gladiators will play a warm-up game this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in Grandview against Little River Academy.

The first playoff game will be next Thursday or Friday against either DeLeon or Eldorado at a site and time to be determined.

Italy Gladiator scoring:

Italy J.V. Gladiators vs. Waxahachie Advantage:
Coach Larry Mayberry and his J.V. Gladiators pulled off yet another impressive performance to finish this season at the top of their game.

In a word, Italy’s J.V. Gladiators are “relentless” in their approach to the game. Loaded with talent, each player on the roster is capable of making a game changing play or a buzzer-beating shot.

Italy’s J.V. had some big wins this season including a win over Palmer’s Varsity and an 80-78 redemption win over Gateway’s J.V. that was using Varsity players due to a U.I.L. infraction. Plus, the wins over Itasca’s J.V. and a J.V. Tournament Championship were nice as well.

And with one game left, Italy’s J.V. didn’t hold back against the Waxahachie Advantage Eagles on Tuesday. After all, that just wouldn’t be their style.

Leading just 9-8 after the 1st quarter, Bubba Itson scored 5-points in the 2nd along with Devonta Simmons, Cole Hopkins and Ethan Saxon who eached scored 4-points. Kyle Jackson added a basket and a free throw as well as Italy’s J.V. outscored the Eagles 20-8 in the 2nd to lead 29-16 at halftime.

Itson scored 6 more and Reid Jacinto contributed 5-points to lead the J.V. Gladiators scoring attack in the 3rd quarter. With speed and quickness on defense, Italy put in 18 to just 3-points by Waxahachie Advantage to take a 47-19 advantage into the 4th quarter.

A 3-pointer by Itson, in the 4th, gave him 7-points in the quarter and 21 on the night. Jackson swished in a 3-pointer and Brandon Souder added a basket in the final quarter as the J.V. Gladiators concluded their season with a 59-27 victory the Eagles.

Congratulations to the Italy J.V. Gladiators on another incredible season of basketball. And good luck to the sophomores who will join the varsity ranks next season.

Italy J.V. Gladiator scoring:

Go Gladiators!