Europe
Girls basketball roundupBarons start off lighter schedule with sweep
Stars and Stripes
January 10, 2015
Wiesbaden's Jeydon Winston-Aviles aims for the basket as Vilseck's Kaylaah Capindo, left, and Shyanne Hendrix defend. The Warriors beat Vilseck 32-21, in Wiesbaden, Saturday, Jan.10, 2015. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Jeydon Winston-Aviles aims for the basket as Vilseck's Kaylaah Capindo, left, and Shyanne Hendrix defend. The Warriors beat Vilseck 32-21, in Wiesbaden, Saturday, Jan.10, 2015. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Catherine Klein gets off a shot against Vilseck defenders including Kaylaah Capindo, left. The Warriors beat Vilseck 32-21, in Wiesbaden, Saturday, Jan.10, 2015. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Marquita Morris shoots after getting past Wiesbaden's Sydney Hill in a game at Wiesbaden, Saturday, Jan.10, 2015. The home team won 31-21. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Michaela Lewis drives to the basket against Wiesbaden's Sydney Hill. The Warriors beat Vilseck 32-21, in Wiesbaden, Saturday, Jan.10, 2015. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The Bitburg Barons evened their season record and strengthened their burgeoning Division II girls basketball title hopes with a convincing weekend sweep of the visiting Ansbach Cougars on Friday and Saturday, winning consecutive romps by scores of 49-10 and 46-12.
Alexa Landenberger paced the Barons in both games. The sophomore guard started her weekend with a game-high 18-point scoring effort Friday but was even more proficient Saturday, pouring in 21 points along with six steals and five assists. Hailey McKenna scored 12 points to join her in double figures Friday, while junior forward Saoirse Matthews chipped in a 14-point, eight-rebound effort in support Saturday.
The wins improve Bitburg to 3-3, a record that belies the danger they pose to the restructured Division II postseason bracket. The Barons' three-game season-opening losing streak came against Division I powers Wiesbaden and Ramstein and included a two-point loss to the defending champion Warriors.
They kicked off their current three-game winning streak before the break by beating Ramstein 53-47 on Dec. 13.
With that valuable upper-division experience behind them, Bitburg will next travel to AFNORTH for a meet-up with Division II rivals Rota and AFNORTH. Their late-season slate includes dates with fellow challenger Hohenfels and defending Division II champion Black Forest Academy.
AFNORTH 28/24, Alconbury 9/15: At Brunssum, Netherlands, the host Lions used a balanced offense and a stingy defense to defeat the Dragons.
Eliska Volencova produced eight points and five rebounds in Friday's win and 10 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's sweep-clinching victory. Grace Phillips offered consistent support with eight points in each game while adding four rebounds, four blocks and five assists on Saturday.
The Lions earned both wins on the strength of stellar defensive quarters. They held Alconbury to a single point in Friday's first quarter and repeated that feat in Saturday's fourth quarter.
Vicenza 66/57, Sigonella 32/35: At Sigonella, Cougar star Emma Knapp exploded for a combined 69 points in consecutive wins for the visitors.
Knapp outscored Sigonella singlehandedly on Friday, pouring in 39 points. She went for 30 more the next day to lead her team to the sweep.
Knapp's efforts extended beyond the scoreboard as well. She approached a triple-double with eight rebounds and 10 steals Friday and tallied eight more boards and six steals Saturday.
The victories kept Vicenza undefeated on the season, though all of their wins have come at the expense of Division III opposition. That changes in two weeks, when they'll host Division I rivals Patch, Naples and Vilseck.
Patch 34, Kaiserslautern 30: Friday at Kaiserslautern, the Panthers edged the Raiders in a battle of Division I hopefuls.
Treshon Jenkins collected 13 points, nine rebounds and seven steals, all game-high totals, to pace Patch to its third straight victory. Jaxen Godfrey added 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks and guard Marissa Encarnacion totaled seven rebounds and five steals.
Althea Hohan and Morgan Dozier each scored eight points for the Raiders, who suffered their first loss of the season.
Wiesbaden 49/31, Vilseck 18/21: At Wiesbaden, the frontcourt duo of Cierra Martin and Catherine Klein overwhelmed the visiting Falcons.
Martin, the reigning Stars and Stripes girls basketball Athlete of the Year, notched a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday. Teammate Klein also crossed the double-double threshold in that blowout victory with a 10-point, 10-board effort.
Vilseck made a better game of it Saturday, but Martin and Klein still carried the day. Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds and Klein had seven points and six boards. TyBrea Hopkins had 12 points and Kaylaah Capindo grabbed seven rebounds to pace the Falcons.
The unbeaten defending champions host Patch next weekend in a rematch of last year's European title game.
Naples 45/36, Florence 2/8: At Naples, the Wildcats steamrolled their overmatched visitors.
Jessica Wheeler posted 14 points and eight rebounds in Friday's win. Teammate Natoria Morris had eight points and five rebounds Saturday.