Saginaw, Boswell High School — “Hip, hip, hooray!” The Italy Gladiators win their first playoff game in three seasons with hustling defense and solid shooting from the free-throw line late in the contest.

“It wasn’t pretty but a win is a win,” stated Italy’s head coach Brandon Gansky after the game as senior center Zain Byers gave freshman guard Kevin Johnson a hero’s hoist by carrying Johnson into the locker room draped over his shoulder.

Johnson, led the Gladiators with 17-points total and was mature beyond his years as the Eagles continuously fouled Johnson to preserve the clock. Valley View was hoping the freshman would falter under the pressure, but instead, Johnson flourished at the foul line. He cleanly swished 7-out of-9 foul shots in the final moments to counter two consecutive 3-point buckets made by the Eagles, preserving Italy’s comeback win, 54-47.

That was just a portion of the winning formula for the Gladiators who also relied on constant defensive pressure to keep the Eagles grounded. Trevon Robertson, known for his scoring prowess, is also a gifted defender and excelled in his one-on-one match ups.

TaMarcus Sheppard challenged shooters near the rim and recorded 1 block and a 2 defensive boards while the presence of Zain Byers, 6’0-235 lbs., detoured Valley View from feeding the ball into the post. Darol Mayberry and Tyler Anderson smothered Eagle ball handlers while Johnson looked for opportunities to claim loose balls.

Mason Womack proved valuable off the bench while filling in for Robertson who sat the third-period after being tagged with 3 fouls during the first-half. Womack was aggressive and earned two trips to the foul line where he went 1-out of-4. Cody Boyd came thru with a couple of important rebounds down the stretch and Bailey Walton was a master of all trades, from scoring to rebounding and on defense. Perhaps Walton’s best contributions were his accurate passes when inbounding the ball to Johnson in the final moments, with Valley View hoping for a mistake.

The Eagles started the game off with a 3-pointer but a crafty jumper in the lane from Byers made the score 3-2. With the score tied 4-4, Byers wrapped around an Eagle defender and underhanded in a shot in to give Italy a 6-4 lead. And with that, the Gladiators settled in and increased their lead by seven to lead 15-8 by the end of the first-period.

In the second, Valley View managed to stay in the game with 11-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe. Late in the period, Ty Windham was fouled after attacking the basket which resulted in a perfect pair of free-throws to make the score 27-21. Valley View responded with a score before the the buzzer to make the count 27-23 at halftime, overcoming a 9-point deficit.

Coach Gansky rolled the dice in the third by sitting Robertson to protect from getting into further foul trouble. At the 6:07 mark, Walton passed ahead to Sheppard who made the layup and made the score 29-25. A 3-pointer pulled Valley View within 1-point, 29-28, with 4:44 showing. A bucket inside by Boyd and two swishing free-throws from Byers gave the Gladiators a 33-28 cushion. With 3:50 to play in the period, however, the Eagles scored 6 straight points to reclaim the lead 34-33.

The calvary was about to arrive for the Gladiators as Ganske prompted Robertson to check back in. Robertson just managed to go 1-of-2 from the line in the fourth but he changed the complexion of the game upon his return, refueling the intensity of Italy’s swarming defense. With Italy trailing 36-33 early in the period, Johnson split a pair of Eagle defenders for the lay in, closing the gap 36-35. Italy then regained the lead when Robertson hurled a pass downcourt to Sheppard who completed the fast break to put the Gladiators back in front, 37-36, with 5:56 remaining.

A layup by Walton increased Italy’s advantage to 39-36 with 5:02 to play. The Gladiators led 41-36 but then their lead quickly dwindled to 41-39 with under 4:00 to play. When they needed it most, Sheppard drained a corner 3-pointer despite Eagle fans pecking at him from behind with their jeers. Sheppard’s shot kept Italy in charge, 44-39, but the game was far from settled at 3:24 and ticking.

Fortunately for the Gladiators, the young Johnson was flawless in the fourth. Johnson scored thirteen in the period and was clutch from the line. Italy needed every bit of it with the Eagles committed to shooting 3-pointers and then fouling Johnson as soon as his teammates passed him the ball. With under one minute left, the Eagles managed two consecutive 3-pointers to give their fans false hope. Johnson’s 7 made free-throws would be the difference with the Gladiators defeating Valley View to claim the bi-district championship, 54-47.

Most Notable Efforts:
Johnson had 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 1 assist, shot 7-of-9 from the line and finished with 17-points. Sheppard scored 8-points including one 3-pointer, Byers accounted for 8-points, 2 steals and 10 rebounds. Robertson scored 6-points including one 3-pointer in the second, Walton put in 6-points and collected 1 rebound and 1 assist while Mayberry recorded an offensive rebound to score an acrobatic bucket inside. Cody Boyd had 4-points and 5 rebounds.

Both teams combined for 42 foul shots making 28. Italy went 16-of-26 and Valley View went 12-of-16 from the stripe.

Italy Game Roster/Scoring vs. Valley View:

The Gladiators will compete for the area championship against Trenton on Friday, February 21, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Forney High School.

Go Gladiators! Beat Trenton!!

[[ Click for more images ]]