AFNORTH’s Makayla McNeill-Mark puts up a shot against Ansbach at the DODEA European Basketball Championships at Wiesbaden, Germany, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – Spangdahlem’s boys basketball kept its perfect season intact on the second day of the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships.
But the 17-0 Sentinels might actually been outstaged Friday by their closest competitor.
Hohenfels improved to 15-3 on the year by pounding five-time defending champion Baumholder in its second pool play game and handing Sigonella a 37-12 defeat in its final one.
Regardless of how each team got there, though, both advanced to the semifinals and are heavy favorites to meet each other in Saturday’s championship game. Hohenfels plays AFNORTH and Spangdahlem takes on Baumholder in back-to-back games starting at 2 p.m. at Wiesbaden High School.
In girls action, top-seeded AFNORTH took out both Ansbach and Hohenfels in pool action Thursday and will meet Sigonella in the last semifinal of the day. That’s after Spangdahlem and Ansbach follow the boys onto the court.
Hohenfels has been paced all season by brothers Jacob and Joel Idowu. That didn’t change against the Bucs on Thursday as the 6-foot-3 junior and 6-foot-4 freshman dominated inside. But they were joined in the assault by a perimeter game that left Baumholder with few options.
The Tigers led 15-2 after one quarter, 30-8 at halftime and were up 44-10 before completely clearing the bench in a 46-30 victory.
Spangdahlem, which defeated Hohenfels in the regular season, didn’t really show signs of vulnerability in a 59-29 victory over Alconbury before topping AFNORTH 44-35 in their final pool game.
Hohenfels’ Jacob Idowu gets up a shot against Baumholder’s Wryson Catalan at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships at Wiesbaden, Germany, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Alconbury’s Elizabeth Schroeder shoots over Sigonella’s Laney Reardon on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Alconbury’s Kalilia Te’o tries to get past Sigonella’s Charlize Caro on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella’s Ryleigh Denton tries a scoop shot Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ansbach’s Elizabeth Agudzi-Addo shoots before AFNORTH defender Maggie Masse can get there Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH’s Selah Skariah tries to find an opening while Ansbach’s Kylah Tuazon closes in Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships at Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH’s Isabella Guest shoots against Hohenfels in the Lions’ pool play victory Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the DODEA European Division III Basketball Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
In girls action, top-seeded AFNORTH took out both Ansbach and Hohenfels in pool action Thursday and will meet Sigonella in the last semifinal of the day. That’s after Spangdahlem and Ansbach follow the boys onto the court.
Hohenfels has been paced all season by brothers Jacob and Joel Idowu. That didn’t change against the Bucs on Thursday as the 6-foot-3 junior and 6-foot-4 freshman dominated inside. But they were joined in the assault by a perimeter game that left Baumholder with few options.
The Tigers led 15-2 after one quarter, 30-8 at halftime and were up 44-10 before completely clearing the bench in a 46-30 victory.
Spangdahlem, which defeated Hohenfels in the regular season, didn’t really show signs of vulnerability in a 59-29 victory over Alconbury before topping AFNORTH 44-35 in their final pool game.
The top-seeded Lion girls were 11-1 entering the tournament and while they haven’t blown anyone out, they continue to win.
“When we’re nervous and stressed, we just don’t play as well,” senior captain Isabella Guest said. “We get off to some slow starts and I think that’s what happened today.”
Guest said she told her teammates at halftime that she wasn’t satisfied with just playing in the championships and wanted to end her senior season with a title. The Lions took the lead and never looked back in the third quarter. Guest finished with 11 points and teammate Selah Skariah 12.
Spangdahlem’s girls team went through a hectic couple of hours Thursday afternoon.
Delays at Clay Kaserne pushed the start of its 30-6 victory over Brussels more than an hour, and the Sentinels still were playing 15 minutes before an originally scheduled game at Wiesbaden Middle School was supposed to start.
Spangdahlem eventually made its way to the pool-decider with Sigonella and managed to pull away late for a 30-25 victory.
“We just played Brussels, got on the bus, came over here and played them,” Sentinel coach Chris Howard said. “The girls were still loose and focused. That was a big difference. It probably gave us a little bit of an advantage because (Sigonella) was sitting cold.”
The Sentinels scored 10 points off Jaguar turnovers over the final 7:21 of the game.
Gabrielle Schmidt was the biggest recipient of that. The senior guard scored 12 of her game-high 15 points over that span.
Ankara senior Jaia Kageorge looks to pass while Alconbury sophomore Isabella Free defends in pool-play action of the DODEA European Basketball Championships on Feb. 15, 2024, at Wiesbaden High School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella senior Laney Reardon passes the ball out to the wing while Spangdahlem senior Talyssa Link defends during pool-play action on Feb. 15, 2024, at Wiesbaden Middle School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Spangdahlem freshman Jayda Lewis surveys the floor against Sigonella during pool-play action on Feb. 15, 2024, at Wiesbaden Middle School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Spangdahlem senior Gabrielle Schmidt fights through a reach by Sigonella junior Alexandra Quintanilla as fellow Jaguar Madison Hoy comes to help during pool-play action on Feb. 15, 2024, at Wiesbaden Middle School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Staff writer Matt Wagner contributed to this report.