After flying high against Trenton on Friday, Italy came back down to earth. The Italy Gladiators fell 43-33 to the Tom Bean Tomcats on Saturday. While the Gladiators didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-19), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Despite the loss, Italy saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Tatum Box scored 27 points along with eight rebounds. Those 27 points set a new season-high mark for Box.
Even though they lost, Italy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive contests.
Sam Lind was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 17 points and 13 rebounds for Tom Bean. Lind has been hot , having also posted three or more blocks the last five times she's played. Another player making a difference was Camryn Ives, who had five points along with two steals.
Italy's defeat dropped their record down to 7-4. As for Tom Bean, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
Italy will face off against Dawson at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Italy's defense has only allowed 29.3 points per game this season, so Dawson's offense will have their work cut out for them. Tom Bean has already played their next game, a 61-23 loss against Bonham on the 7th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
