An 11-3 third quarter surge gave the Gladiators just the push it needed as it slipped past Unstoppable 25-12 in age 10 to 14 youth basketball action Saturday.

“Our defense is good,” Gladiators coach Dwight Douglas said. “Our smallest man on the team (Eric Smith) plays the toughest defense. Defense wins games. If you can play good, solid defense, you can win any game.”

The Gladiators received a strong all-around effort from several players, and Jordan Donald led the team with nine points. Right behind Donald was Raymone Bowman with eight points, Smith with six and Jeremiah Clark chipping in with 2.

“They’re going to be great,” Douglas said. “All of them have really improved from last season. They’re just going to get better and better.”

Unstoppable led at the half 7-6 after Roger Johnson completed an old-fashioned 3-point play late in the second quarter. Johnson finished with a team-high four points.

“They started getting kind of tired on me,” Unstoppable coach Sammy Norman said.

“I’ll take the blame for today, but next week, we will get it together. They just have to learn to play together.”

Trenton Davis, Trevor Davis, Kaden Walton and Donald Pissant all added two points for Unstoppable.

“I know when I go back to the drawing board next week, I know what I have to do with them,” Norman said. “We have to be more a little more focused.”

The Gladiators started the second half on a 4-0 run and closed the period on a 4-1 spurt en route to the win.

“This is the first game, and we’re off to a great start,” Douglas said. “It’s been fun, I’m loving it. The kids are having a ball. It’s going to be a great program.”