AFNORTH’s Maggie Masse shoots over Ansbach’s Kennedy Lange in the girls Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2024. AFNORTH took the division title with a 34-23 victory. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – Several seniors on AFNORTH’s girls basketball team felt they should be going for their third straight Division III title Saturday.
But the Lions, nearly perfect this year with only a single loss, fell in last year’s championship game after winning it all the year before.
So they were on a mission against the Ansbach Cougars in the first of six games at the DODEA European Basketball Championships.
“We mostly just felt we got our title back,” said Selah Skariah, the tournament’s most outstanding player, after the Lions re-captured the title 34-23.
“We’ve just been really fortunate this year,” AFNORTH coach Matt Wise said. “We’ve got great girls who always come ready to work. And we’re well-balanced, so you can’t just take one player away and expect to stop us.”
AFNORTH led 14-4 at halftime before both teams began scoring at a more normal pace in the second half. But it was a bit late at that point for the Cougars to just trade points.
Ansbach got off to a miserable start, committing 19 first-half turnovers and never managed to get closer than five points in the second half. Kennedy Lange’s two free throws with 48.8 seconds to go in the first period were Ansbach’s first points. The Cougars already had 10 turnovers by that point.
“Sometimes … when you’re a young team and you have to deal with nerves, you don’t know how to turn that into positive energy,” Ansbach coach Deb Keller-Mitchell said. “Turnovers are an Achilles’ heel, as any basketball coach will tell you.”
The AFNORTH Lions celebrate their 34-23 win over Ansbach in the girls Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2024. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH’s Madelyn Hatfield gets past Ansbach’s Annika Asbury for a basket in the Lions’ 34-23 win over Ansbach in the girls Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2024. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH’s Makayla McNiell-Mark drives the ball up the court against Ansbach’s Elizabeth Agudzi-Addo in the girls Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2024. AFNORTH took the title with a 34-23 win. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Ansbach’s Elizabeth Agudzi-Addo takes it to the hoop against AFNORTH’s Rowan Moreno in the girls Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2024. AFNORTH beat Ansbach 34-23. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Ansbach’s Laila McIntyre looks for a shot against AFNORTH’s Rowan Moreno in the girls Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2024. AFNORTH took the title with a 34-23 win. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Skariah led the Lions with 10 points, closely followed by Maggie Masse and Makayla McNiell-Mark with nine apiece.
AFNORTH had six seniors listed on the roster of 12 and Wise said six more players didn’t make the trip.
“They’re champions, too,” he said. “And all of our community should share in this as well. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes beyond what you just see on the court.”
Sophomore center Lange kept the Cougars within striking distance, providing the only points in the first half before finishing with team highs of 11 points and 15 rebounds.
Keller-Mitchell’s team fielded just three seniors and one junior and the experience gap showed.
“We took a bunch of volleyball players and one tennis player and made a basketball team,” Keller-Mitchell said. “AFNORTH’s a great team. But we’re probably the most improved team in the division over the course of the season.”