IJH girls basketball
Italy’s A-Team JH Lady Gladiator Brycelin “ChaCHa” Richards returns from the injured list to put in a free-throw against Blooming Grove during her first outing this season while wearing #22 in honor of her oldest sister, Megan Richards, who graduated IHS in 2012. (Barry Byers)
B-Team Action:
Italy — The Blooming Grove JH Lady Lions sweep the Italy JH Lady Gladiators this season after taking care of Italy during a pair of rematch games between the two schools inside Italy Coliseum.
Italy’s B-Team girls fought hard on the boards, created steals and even had a few good looks at the basket. In the end, however, the Italy B-Team was unable to drop in any baskets allowing the Grove to get the shutout win.
A defensive rebound by Caroline Pittman resulted in Sierra Wilson being tied up on the offensive end which proved to be Italy’s best chance to score in the first-quarter. Defensively, Wilson continues to be a bright spot for Italy’s B-Team and made her presence known early on as well.
In the second-quarter, Paige Cunningham makes a smooth move to drive the baseline drawing a shooting foul. Cunningham, who was the team’s high pointer in their last outing with an impressive 1-point night, had a chance to match or even surpass that achievement in the contest but neither foul shot would fall in for the young sharpshooter.
A shot by Maegan Connor deflects off the front of the rim and a fast break opportunity for Wilson ended with the ball going out-of-bounds. The effort was there but the points continue to be scarce for Italy’s B-Team who trailed at halftime.
Italy’s next best chance for a a score occurred in the fourth-quarter when a bank shot from the left block just rolled off the front of the rim. Blooming Grove’s B-squad went on to get the win but credit Italy’s JH B-Team Lady Gladiators who never quit trying and are having a lot of fun learning to win.
A-Team Action:
Emmy Cunningham got the scoring started for Italy’s A-Team JH Lady Gladiators to give Italy a 2-0 lead. Blooming Grove countered with 6-straight points to overtake the lead 6-2. Elizabeth Garcia put in two free-throws to make the score 6-4 with 1:30 left in the opening quarter. Moments later, a shot attempt by Garcia rims out from the top of the lane allowing Blooming Grove to maintain their 2-point advantage. Italy’s Vanessa Cantu does hit the mark to tie the matchup 6-6. Blooming Grove answers with a fast break layup to lead 8-6 heading into the second.
A pair of missed free-throws by Italy and a defensive rebound by Cantu gives head coach Lindsey Coffman a chance to regroup her girls. Blooming Grove begins earning trips to the foul line. Despite Brycelin Richards making her first appearance of the season after returning from an injury, Blooming Grove gets on a roll and builds a 16-8 advantage by halftime.
Impressively, Richards, scores first in the second half by hitting 1-out of-2 free-throws, making the score 16-9. Blooming Grove answers right back and goes up 18-9. Cunningham tries to take over the game for Italy by asserting her will. Cunningham steals the ball and passes to Garcia to complete the fast break, 18-11 with 4:10 to play in the third-quarter. Garcia pays it forward and passes to Jenna Holden who connects on the bank shot to pull Italy closer, 18-13 with 3:03 left. Blooming Grove adds a free-throw before the quarters ends to lead 19-13.
Blooming Grove dominating the fourth-quarter to escape with a 24-13 win after finishing with a 3-pointer despite tight defense from Cunningham. It was a tough loss but Italy’s girls are fun to watch and have a dome full of potential.