Italy (Thursday, January 9) — The Marlin “Globetrotters” put on a show at the expense of Italy’s 7th grade squad but Italy’s Adam Powell agreed after the match, “It’s good for us to play a talented team like that, it will make us better.”

Italy’s Jonathan Salas led Italy’s squad in scoring with 4-points, Ryder Itson added a basket as did Marcoz Duarte. Unfortunately, Italy’s point production did little to combat the 3-point shooting, between the leg dribbling, alley-oop passing Marlin squad that seldom missed a shot.

Bright spots for Italy defensively were Jacob Wiser, Cason Roberts, Alex Garcia, Chris Davila, Isaac Garcia and Jaylon Lusk. Marcos Duarte displayed good court skills on offense and Mario Rodriguez is a mountain of a young man in the middle.

8th Grade Action:
It was a complete flip-flop in the finale with Italy’s 8th grade boys doing a number on Marlin. Led by the scoring abilities of Tylan Wallace with 19-points, Italy was more business than flash as they matter-of-factly dismantled the Marlin defense.

Kendrick Norwood was also a go-to-Gladiator on offense with 10-points as was Kyle Tindol with 4-points. Cade Roberts and Anthony Lusk, Jr. were active for Italy’s offense with each scoring 2-points as well. Making an impact on the boards were Clay Riddle, Ty Hamilton, Jacob Brooks and Chris Davila while Garrett Janek helped with the ball handling duties.

Riddle punctuated the night with a jaw-dropping dunk attempt, for lack of a more factual explanation, as Italy’s 8th grade boys get the job done with a 41-21 victory.

Go Italy Junior. High!