KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- A battle between newly-minted Division I basketball rivals went decisively to the old guard on Friday.
A pair of revamped and undefeated Kaiserslautern squads produced a convincing boys and girls sweep of the visiting SHAPE Spartans on Friday evening, winning the doubleheader by a combined 40 points. The girls won 35-18, while the boys won 57-34.
The wins improved both Kaiserslautern teams to 3-0 on the season, including the previous weekend's sweep of Division I rival Vilseck, entering Saturday's rematch with the Spartans. The Raiders jump back into divisional play after the holiday break with a Jan. 9 home set against Patch.
SHAPE, which was moved up from Division II prior to the season, will travel to defending Division III boys and girls champ Brussels on Jan. 10.
GirlsKaiserslautern 35, SHAPE 18: Raider sophomore Andrea Fresch outscored the overmatched Spartans all by herself, pouring in 13 of her 21 points after halftime while pulling down nine rebounds.
But Fresch was far from thrilled with the effort, saying that the Raiders were playing "out of control" and lamenting the broken plays and imprecision that yielded many of her baskets..
"I'd rather get five points and say that we really hustled as a team and really played well together," Fresch said. "I'd rather have good points than sloppy points."
Fresch added that she was unaware of her skyrocketing scoring column in the heat of battle.
"I really don't even count, to be honest," Fresch said. "I just try to play the game."
Fresch played the game productively in other facets as well, stockpiling nine rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. Ryan Paine paced the Spartans with nine points.
BoysKaiserslautern 57, SHAPE 34: The new-look Raiders are undergoing a crash course in chemistry. They aced Friday's test with a well-rounded offense that saw seven players register points.
"A lot of team bonding, that's what it is," Kaiserslautern senior Malik Tillman said. "We're pretty much like a family. We all talk to each other, go to each other's houses."
Tillman, one of several new additions to the Raider rotation, said the team is working hard "to get to know each other's games" even as they build friendships. After a slow start, the home team showed substantial progress Friday.
The Raiders pulled away from the Spartans with a late second-quarter run that would prove decisive. Caleb Chastain hit a straight-ahead three-pointer with under two minutes to play to give the home team a 10-point lead, and scored on a driving layup moments later to nudge it to 12. That's the margin they'd carry into halftime and gradually grow over the final 16 minutes.
Three Raiders cracked double figures in scoring. Chastain led the way with 18, while JaMarkus Myles added 14 and Tillman had 10.
An August transfer from New York, Tillman said he's thoroughly enjoying his first stint overseas. His only regret is that it will be so brief.
"I really like it," Tillman said. "I wish I would have come here sooner, though."
Austin Stephens scored a game-high 21 points for SHAPE.
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