The frequent games between huge Division I power Ramstein and Division II challenger Bitburg don't always rise to the level of rivalry, according to the rule that both sides of a rivalry must sometimes find success. But this year appears to be different.

The upstart Barons upset their favored host Saturday at Ramstein Air Base, building a double-digit halftime lead en route to a 53-47 victory. The win came a night after Ramstein beat the Barons 43-35 in a similarly hard-fought game at Bitburg.

Elise Rasmussen and Saoirse Matthews turned in double-double performances to fuel the Baron victory. Rasmussen went for 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Matthews had 12 points and a game-high 16 boards. Teammate Alexa Landenberger joined them in the double-digit scoring column with 14.

The Barons' first win of the year came in their final game before the holiday break and after several near-miss attempts at knocking off one of their Division I nemeses. Bitburg lost twice to Wiesbaden, including a heartbreaking 37-35 decision Dec. 6, and once to Ramstein before registering the hard-earned win Saturday.

Desiree Palacios paced Ramstein's Friday win with 13 points.

American Overseas School of Rome 24/35, Sigonella 21/28: At Rome, the host Falcons secured a pair of wins over the Jaguars.

AOSR overcame a halftime tie and a scoreless third quarter to earn the win Friday. The Falcons scored 14 of their 24 points in a furious fourth-quarter comeback.

The home team dodged a similar scenario on Saturday, entering halftime trailing by a basket. But the Falcons came out firing in the third, outscoring the Jaguars 12-6 and holding on for the win and the sweep.

Alison Cook scored 27 combined points on the weekend, including 19 on Saturday.

Baumholder 30/34, Brussels 23/20: At Baumholder, the Bucs landed consecutive blows against the defending Division III champions.

Eliyah Tillman produced a mammoth double-double in each game, going for 19 points and 28 rebounds on Friday and 27 points and 21 boards on Saturday. Teammate Imaya Sharpe chipped in a combined 14 points over the two games.

The Bucs pulled away with a dominant quarter in each game. They outscored the Brigands 12-2 in Friday's third quarter and 13-2 in Saturday's second quarter.

Baumholder, a new addition to the Division III ranks after this fall's realignment, evened its pre-holiday record to 2-2 after an opening-weekend sweep from AFNORTH.

Hohenfels 35/30, Vilseck 28/28: The Division II Tigers gritted out a home-and-home sweep from the Division I Falcons.

Shelby Atkinson led the attack in both games, pairing eight points with nine rebounds in Friday's road win and exploding for 18 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's home-court triumph. Amelia Heath scored a combined 13 points on the weekend and Payton Chandler grabbed nine boards in each Tiger win.

The sweep evens Hohenfels' record at 2-2 entering the break, while VIlseck remains winless.

Naples 49, Aviano 31: Saturday at Aviano, Jessica Wheeler stuffed the stat sheet as the Wildcats completed a weekend sweep.

Wheeler piled up nine rebounds and nine steals alongside her four points. Teammates Keylee Soto and Aundrea Hall carried the scoring load with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Jasmine Cole led Aviano with 12 points and eight rebounds. Naples improved to 4-0 entering the holiday break.

Kaiserslautern 23, SHAPE 14: Saturday at Kaiserslautern, the Raiders completed their weekend sweep of the new Division I rival Spartans.

Andrea Fresch notched seven points and seven rebounds and Morgan Dozier added six points and seven rebounds for the Raiders, who will enter the break with a perfect 4-0 mark.

Begona Rodriguez-Bravo scored nine points to pace SHAPE.

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