Gladiators gave it a shot but the 3A West Trojans hooped with more weapons
Gladiator Ty Windham(12) goes up-and-under for the score and-1. Despite a physical effort from Italy, the visiting 3A West Trojans get the win to close out the holiday break. (Barry Byers)
Varsity action against West:
Italy — The Italy Gladiators close out the holidays with a visit from the 3A West Trojans who jumped out to an early 15-7 advantage. Italy closed within one, 15-14, after a piercing jumper by Bailey Walton from the top of the lane but it was all Trojans the rest of the way.
Italy manufactured points anyway they could with Walton, Tyler Anderson, Ryan Connor, Ty Windham, Tre Robertson, Cody Boyd effectively putting the ball in the hoop while Zain Byers, Kevin Roldan and Darol Mayberry were active on the defensive side. TaMarcus Sheppard was a little held back by his sore leg and Byers had to exit the matchup temporarily with a bloody nose.
Along with Walton’s scoring prowess, another bright spot for Italy was the ball-handling skills of freshman guard Kevin Johnson. Johnson slices thru defenders like butter but even that ability wasn’t enough.
Anderson, a senior guard, was also aggressive in this one by attacking the rim and Windham had a dazzling layup with an and-1, but in the end, the Trojans defeated Italy for the second time this season, 68-36. The loss wasn’t pretty, but perhaps the busted nose on Byers will be an improvement.
JV action against West:
The JV Gladiators faired better in their contest with West and rallied to take a 1-point lead off a Kenneth Norwood triple late in the final minutes. Despite an aggressive outing by guard Eric Carson and strong physical play from centers Austin Crawford and Tristan Cotten, West outlasted Italy’s JV, 47-44, after a last second, potentially game tying heave by Norwood went off the mark.
JV Gladiators Jorge Galvan, Joshua Cryer and David De La Hoya also gave it their all against West.