Italy — The Italy Lady Gladiators, head coached by Melissa Fullmer and assisted by Tina Richards, shocked the Dallas Gateway Lady Gators to take a 26-19 halftime lead Tuesday night inside Italy Coliseum. Guards Tara Wallis and Kendra Copeland kept the squad on fast-forward with high-flying Kortnei Johnson giving Gateway reasons to pause. By the end of the third-quarter, the Lady Gladiators had added to their lead, 41-29, and continued to apply the pressure.

Alyssa Richards and Monserrat Figueroa were able to overcome height disadvantages by wreaking havoc on the boards and using their full court savviness to filter down the lanes to be on the finishing ends of fast-break opportunities. Taleyia Wilson and Bernice Hailey always play tough on the boards for Italy as well. The Lady Gators looked more like deer caught in the headlights compared to what their ferocious mascot would suggest. It was all Italy and they were not slowing the pace.

Up 51-34 in the fourth-quarter, Johnson steps into the lane and swishes a dagger to increase Italy’s advantage 53-34 with 4:33 to play. Halee Turner shows her hustle during the stanza as Johnson scores again and again to give the Lady Gladiators a 57-40 cushion. With Italy’s fast-break on auto, Ryisha Copeland scores to put Italy up 59-41. Italy puts in 4-more points to win 61-43, beginning district play with a 2-0 record.

Lady Gladiator Scoring vs. Gateway:

Go Lady Gladiators!

Varsity Boys – The Gladiators:
The Italy Gladiators varsity boys, guided by head coach Brian Coffman, held their own in the early going against the Waco Robinson Rockets with both sides unable to score for the first several minutes. Unfortunately, the early season shooting woes continued for Italy allowing the visiting Rockets to build a 7-0 advantage. Senior point guard Marvin Cox put in a layup to make the score 7-2 after one quarter of play.

In the second, with the Gladiators in catchup mode, Italy’s Caden Jacinto, a senior long-range bomber, popped in a three-ball to make the score 9-5. Cox followed up with another 3-pointer to pull Italy within 2-points, 10-8, with 6:38 to play in the first half. Cole Hopkins, whose defensive efforts have been outstanding thus far into the season, comes up with the turnover and feeds fellow senior, Ryheem Walker, for an open fast-break layup, 10-10.

With Waco up 12-10, a Kelvin Joffre fast-break basket is waived off for charging. Waco scores again to go up 14-0. Bailey Walton passes inside to Walker but the shot will not fall and Waco capitalizes on the other end, 16-10 Waco. Cox, sensing the Rockets might be pulling away, drives into the lane drawing a shooting foul. Cox drops in the backend of a 1-and-1 to make the score 16-11 with 2:19 left before halftime.

Eric Carson is fouled driving the baseline to give Italy a chance to inbound from under the goal. The shot attempt is off the mark but Walker rebounds the miss and is hacked on the way back up. Walker is unable to take advantage from the stripe allowing Waco to maintain their 16-11 edge. Waco attempts a 3-pointer from the right corner to beat the buzzer but a leaping effort by Cox disrupts the release and the score remains 16-11 at the break.

The Rockets asserted their will to start the third-quarter and jumped out to a 27-12 lead. Junior forward, Darol Mayberry, helps spark the dome crowd when a pass to 6’,8" Hopkins results in a fast-break ending, in-your-face dunk over a Rocket defender with 1:33 to play in the quarter. However, Waco answers with 5 quick points, including a 3-pointer, to extend their lead 32-14, 0:45 seconds to go.

Reid Jacinto rebounds a miss but scores the follow for Italy, making the score 32-16. Carson slides into the top of the lane to drop in a jumper to make the score 32-18 with 0:09 showing but a finger-roll by the Rockets beats the clock to give Waco a 34-18 advantage heading into the final quarter.

The fourth-quarter belonged to the Rockets. With Italy unable to take advantage of their free-throw line opportunities, Waco Robinson rolls to a 52-26 win inside Italy Coliseum.

JV Boys Action:
Italy’s JV boys continued their struggles as well with Waco Robinson’s JV outshooting coach Larry Mayberry’s squad. Italy’s JV has lost three straight games since beating Dawson during the JV basketball tournament hosted inside Italy Coliseum on Saturday, January 5th. As with Italy’s varsity boys, shots just will not drop for either Gladiator squad right now as players try to jump into basketball mode following their lengthy 5-month football run into the playoffs.

The next home games are against Grand Prairie Advantage on Friday, January 11, beginning with the JV boys at 5:00 p.m. The varsity girls play at 6:15 p.m. followed by the varsity boys at 8:00 p.m.

Go Gladiators!