Hohenfels' Justin Standifer drives to the hoop Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Justin Standifer drives to the hoop Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' David Vidovic gets past Ramstein's defense for two Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Clayton Pinheiro gets a shot off Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Spencer Wright goes airborne on a fast break against Hohenfels Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Spencer Wright gets a floater off against Hohenfels Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Shelby Atkinson drives to the hoop Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Tamia McDaniels shoots a long jumper Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Amethyst Rorie goes up for two against Hohenfels Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Ebony Madrid lays the ball in for two against Hohenfels Friday night at Ramstein, Germany. (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- The 2014-15 DODDS-Europe basketball season tipped off Friday night with an interdivisional girls and boys doubleheader between the host Royals and the Hohenfels Tigers. Division I Ramstein swept the Division II visitors in consecutive routs.
GirlsRamstein 55, Hohenfels19: A pitch-perfect effort by junior guard Desiree Palacios propelled the Royals to a runaway victory.
Palacios was dominant in the first half, scoring on a precision crossover dribble and layup before moving to the perimeter for a series of deadeye jumpers. She recorded 14 of her game-high 16 points before halftime and added four steals, three assists and two rebounds on the night before sitting out much of the second half of the long-decided game.
After putting in hard work over the offseason, the third-year varsity player said she is looking forward to more performances like Friday's as she steps into a leading role for the Royals.
"If I have the opportunity to take the (shot), I will," Palacios said. "If my teammates are open, I'll always set them up if they're in a better position.
"Anything that's good for the team."
Ramstein's Rezana Todman contributed 12 points, four rebounds and five steals in support.
Shelby Atkinson led Hohenfels with eight points.
BoysRamstein 73, Hohenfels 49: The new-look boys squad completed the Royal sweep with a wire-to-wire win.
Just as Palacios did for the Ramstein girls, returning starter Jesse Gray set the opening-night tone early. The energetic senior forward was all but omnipresent in the first quarter, snatching offensive rebounds on one end and sprinting back to swat away Hohenfels breakaways on the other. His emphatic two-handed dunk in the second quarter pushed the Ramstein lead to more than 20 points and sent the packed Royal gym into a frenzy, with a fist-pumping Gray leading the festivities.
"Coach (Andrew O'Connor) really put an emphasis on hyping us up and keeping the intensity up as a team," said Gray, who led all players with 18 points and 16 rebounds. "That's exactly what we did tonight."
Still, the Tiger boys proved resistant to a full-fledged blowout. That was due mostly to the bullheaded forays to the rim of All-Europe football running back David Vidovic in the first half and the perimeter marksmanship of Clayton Pinherio in the second. Vidovic finished with 13 points, while Pinherio had 10.
But Gray had plenty of support on his side. Teammate Trey Bailey notched a double-double of his own, posting 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Hohenfels will stick around to play another girls and boys doubleheader against Ramstein early Saturday.
Twitter: @broomestripes
