Italy — The Itasca Wampus Cats did well defending their court while winning 3-out of-4 games against visiting Italy. In fact, it was Italy’s JV Gladiator squad who was the only team from Italy to escape Itasca with a win, 52-40.

The JV Lady Gladiator squad has been depleted as of late losing several starters to the varsity ranks. Despite the loss of players, Italy’s JV Girls were still competitive but were simply out numbered by Itasca who got the win, 48-30.

The Lady Gladiators, could never get on track against the Lady Wampus Cats who came out firing. Itasca’s 52-41 win forced a three-way tie for 2nd between the Cats, Italy and Dallas Gateway.

Long story short, the Lady Gladiators were forced to rely on a series of coin flips that resulted in Itasca becoming the second seed and Italy becoming the third seed upon entering the playoffs. Triple A Academy, who won the district outright, enters the playoffs as the number one seed.

The Lady Gladiators will now challenge Era in a bi-district matchup with the game scheduled to be played on Tuesday, February 11, at Saginaw Boswell. Italy and Era will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. Good luck, Ladies!!!

Lady Gladiator Game Roster/Scoring vs. Itasca:

The Gladiators trailed Itasca throughout but with 0:59 remaining trailed 55-48, Italy made their move. Unbelievably, Italy scored 10-points in the final minute, despite missing 9 free-throws. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Italy senior Trevon Robertson left the final score 59-58 in favor of Itasca. Italy has two district games remaining and now needs to win Friday against Arlington Summit to remain in the playoff hunt.

The Gladiators will take on the Arlington Summit SkyHawks tonight, Friday, February 7, in an away district matchup (weather permitting). The gym location is:

3700 Mighty Mite Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76105

Go Italy!

[[ See images of the JV match-ups with Itasca ]]