Italy White vs. Keene:
Italy — The Italy “White” Junior High Boys basketball team took plenty of shots early and dominated the boards against the Keene Chargers but couldn’t get a single shot to drop in. The game was a stalemate until the 3:45 mark of the first quarter when Keene made 1-of-2 from the line to take the lead 1-0.

Italy’s Jordan Lemire went to the line and hit the first of two freebies to tie the game, 1-1, but the Chargers scored the next two buckets to lead 5-1 after one quarter of play.

Mason Womack recorded Italy’s first basket from the floor with 5:25 left in the second quarter. Womack grabbed a defensive board and then an offensive board but missed the follow and the score remained 5-3. Womack was not done yet and snagged another defensive rebound and passed ahead to teammate Levi McBride who, eventually, was fouled while shooting. McBride was unable to get either free-throwS to roll in and the Gladiators continued to trail by two.

Womack keeps battling on the defensive end and McBride, Lemire and Jaray Anderson relentlessly attacked the offensive rim but the lid was screwed on tight at Italy’s side of the court. Despite putting up a ton of shots, Keene kept the Gladiators off the scoreboard.

McBride comes up empty at the free-throw line twice again but teammate Tony Wilson stole the ball from Keene and went the distance to finish with a layup and tie the game for the second time, 5-5, 1:15 left before halftime.

Keene responds and hit a pull up jumper from the right wing, beating the buzzer, and enjoyed a 7-5 halftime lead.

A McBride free-throw at the 3:30 mark of the third quarter kept Italy close 9-6. Keene scored but then Anderson skied for an offensive rebound and bounce passed back to Tony Wilson. Wilson knocked down the jumper from the left elbow to pull Italy within one, 11-8.

Wilson stole the ball and Keene’s momentum, dribbled the length of the floor and completed the fast break to make the score 11-10, Keene was still up by one. The Chargers overshot the rim at the buzzer and the intensity inside Italy Coliseum rose as both squads headed into the final quarter.

With 6:00 left to decide the contest, Wilson records another steal and was fouled on his way to the basket. Wilson missed the first shot but made his second free-throw attempt and tied the game for the third time, 11-11, with 5:28 still to play.

Anderson kept the good times rolling and put in a layup that gave Italy its first lead of the night, 13-11. The Chargers charged up the court and made a layup to tie the game for the fourth time, 13-13. With 3:40 remaining, the Chargers scored again and went up 15-13.

Moments later, with the game tied for the fifth time 15-15 thanks to Italy’s Anderson, McBride stepped to the line for two shots. His first shot refused to fall in but McBride’s next free-throw swished thru to give Italy back the lead, 16-15, with 1:00 minute left on the clock.

Wilson added a running one-handed bank shot to seal the deal for Coach Larry Mayberry, Sr. and his teammates as the home team pulled out a close one, 18-15.

Italy Gold vs. Keene:
Congratulations to the Italy Gold squad consisting of Cody Boyd, Ryan Connor, John Escamilla, Kelton Bales, Chase McGinnis, Ty Windham, Kyle Fortenberry and John Byers who relied on a total team effort to get the job done against the Keene Chargers, 28-15.