Italy’s Lady Gladiators sweep the Itasca Lady Wampus Cats in district play
Italy’s Kortnei Johnson(3) goes unchallenged by Itasca to control the opening tipoff back to teammate K’Breona Davis(10). In fact, the Lady Gladiators were in control of this one from tip to finish. (Barry Byers)
Itasca — The Lady Gladiators traveled into Wampus Cat country for a district duel against rival Itasca this past Friday. Italy head Coach Melissa Fullmer and her girls in gold took the lead 2-0 and never looked back.
By the 6:51 mark of the second-period, the Lady Gladiators had already established a 25-8 advantage and cruised to a 38-8 lead at halftime.
Senior K’Breona Davis jump started Italy’s defensive pressure as Cory Chance, Taleyia Wilson and Lillie Perry simply out muscled Itasca in the paint. Emmy Cunningham persevered thru a sore ankle while she and fellow freshman Brycelen Richards handled the bulk of the point guard duties. Kortnei Johnson attacked the basket at will and T’Keyah Pace saw plenty of action in this one.
Pace, is primarily inserted into the lineup for defensive purposes, but after she launched a 27 footer that swished clean thru to beat the third-period buzzer, Pace showed she is much more than a defensive weapon. Pace’s dagger of a shot gave the Lady Gladiators a 55-14 lead going into the fourth.
Coach Fullmer put in Alex Minton and Lizzie Garcia in the final period final period with Minton causing havoc up and down the court and Garcia draining a three-pointer from the right wing.
All in all it was a solid victory for Italy who had previously defeated Itasca in their first district meeting. What was expected to be a war turned into a blowout as the Lady Gladiators win big on the road, 71-21.