Italy — Italy’s JV and Varsity Gladiators took on the Dallas Gateway Charter Academy Gators inside Italy Coliseum Friday night. Bobby Campbell head coached Italy’s JV squad and Brandon Ganske head coached the varsity unit.

The JV Gladiators led after the first-period 8-6 and then 19-15 by intermission. James Walton led the way for Italy with 10-points. Gary Escamilla pitched in with 9-points including a 3-pointer.

Gateway claimed the lead in third-period, however, and led by 7-points going into the fourth. The final period belonged to the Gators who pulled away to win 60-34.

Italy’s Joshua Cryer had a decent night from the floor with 6-points and Garrett Janek was strong on defense while adding 4-points to the Gladiator cause. Dylan McCasland and Jorge Galvan handled the ball well while up and coming power forward Anthony Lusk muscled in 5-points.

JV Gladiator game roster and scoring:

Joshua Cryer – 6
Gary Escamilla – 9 (One 3-pointer)
Jorge Galvan
Anthony Lusk – 5
Dylan McCasland
James Walton – 10
Garrett Janek – 4
Cade Roberts
Ty Hamilton
Michael Hughes
Perez
Byron Lusk, Jr.

Box Score

Varsity Action:
The Gladiators trailed early in this one and struggled to keep pace with the extremely athletic Gators. A bright spot for Italy, however, was point guard Kevin Johnson who scored 18-points including five 3-pointers. Ty Windham contributed 7-points including one 3-pointer and Kendrick Norwood, Jr. dropped in 7-points, as well, also knocking down one 3-pointer.

Senior guard had a strong game handling the ball against a fierce Gator defense and put in a free-throw for the Gladiator cause. Ryan Connor was in attack mode for Italy when he scored a lay-in underneath and freshman Kendrick Norwood put in a hard earned 7-points.

Gateway led 53-37 at intermission and went on to win 90-46 but the Gladiators never gave up and played hard until the final buzzer.

Gladiator game roster and scoring:

Gary Kincaid
Kevin Anderson – 18 (Five 3-pointers)
Cody Boyd – 1
Jaray Anderson
Ryan Connor – 2
Ty Windham – 7 (One 3-pointer)
John Escamilla – 1
Kendrick Norwood – 7
Kyle Tindol – 1
David De La Hoya – 2
Kenneth Norwood – 7 (One 3-pointer)

Box Score

Go Italy!