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The Ramstein Royals celebrate winning the Division I title after defeating Kaiserslautern 47-32 at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015.

The Ramstein Royals celebrate winning the Division I title after defeating Kaiserslautern 47-32 at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

The Ramstein Royals celebrate winning the Division I title after defeating Kaiserslautern 47-32 at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015.

The Ramstein Royals celebrate winning the Division I title after defeating Kaiserslautern 47-32 at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein's Devin Wilkerson attempts an off-balance shot after being fouled in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title.

Ramstein's Devin Wilkerson attempts an off-balance shot after being fouled in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein's Xavier Harper shoots over Kaiserslautern's Antwan Haynes in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title.

Ramstein's Xavier Harper shoots over Kaiserslautern's Antwan Haynes in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein's Trey Bailey shoots over Kaiserslautern's Bridger Hawkins in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title.

Ramstein's Trey Bailey shoots over Kaiserslautern's Bridger Hawkins in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Kaiserslautern's Jeremy Morgan tries to go for a layup between Ramstein's Trey Bailey, left, and Mitchell McKinney in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. Morgan was fouled on the play.

Kaiserslautern's Jeremy Morgan tries to go for a layup between Ramstein's Trey Bailey, left, and Mitchell McKinney in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. Morgan was fouled on the play. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Kaiserslautern's Caleb Chastain shoots over the Ramstein defense of Mitchel McKinney, left, and Jesse Gray in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title.

Kaiserslautern's Caleb Chastain shoots over the Ramstein defense of Mitchel McKinney, left, and Jesse Gray in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Kaiserslautern's Jordun Caradine takes the ball up the court against Ramstein's Spencer Wright in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title.

Kaiserslautern's Jordun Caradine takes the ball up the court against Ramstein's Spencer Wright in the boys Division I championship game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday Feb. 21, 2015. Ramstein beat Kaiserslautern 47-32 for the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

WIESBADEN, Germany – Sometimes it just all comes together.

The senior-heavy, well-constructed roster of the Ramstein Royals dismantled the archrival Kaiserslautern Raiders 47-32 to win the 2015 DODDS-Europe Division I boys basketball championship Saturday at Clay Kaserne Fitness Center.

Finally armed with his full, healthy squad, Ramstein coach Andrew O’Connor was thrilled with the team he brought into Wiesbaden.

“Timing is everything,” O’Connor said. “It worked out perfectly for us.”

On Saturday, everything was in place for a classic large-school title showdown as the fevered Ramstein-Kaiserslautern feud moved onto DODDS-Europe’s grandest hoops stage.

There was an underdog, as the Raiders came in riding the high of an upset of two-time defending champion Patch, against a perennial power determined to end a championship dry spell.

Both schools’ fan bases made the short trip north in force, filling the gym with red and white and red and blue. Kaiserslautern even inherited a friendly hometown crowd from the preceding game, Wiesbaden’s 33-26 defeat of Ramstein for the Division I girls crown. Wiesbaden fans seemed eager to watch the Royals lose twice and replaced the “Dub-Town” chants they’d rained on their Warriors with “K-Town” chants for the enemy of their enemy.

The picture, unfortunately, couldn’t match the frame.

Despite Kaiserslautern’s visible intensity, the game’s choppy rhythm drifted steadily in Ramstein’s favor.

Forward Jesse Gray scored the game’s first six points. Guard Spencer Wright handed out a pair of nifty assists, one to Gray and one to guard Devin Wilkerson. The Royals took a substantial 21-10 lead into halftime.

“We tried to crush them in the paint,” Gray said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”

The Raiders fared slightly better offensively early in the third quarter, scoring five points in the first four minutes.

But so too did the Royals, who grew their lead to 29-15 over that span. Another brief bout of Raider resistance was met with Ramstein sophomore Isaac Moreno arcing in a buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 32-19 lead entering the fourth. That lead held firm in the face of increasingly frenzied Raider rally attempts.

Wilkerson hit four of four free throws in a final-minute trip stemming from a Kaiserslautern personal and technical foul.

Gray scored a game-high 16, while Wilkerson added 15 points. Bridger Hawkins led the Raiders with 12.

The Royals were good for most of the regular season; then they quickly got much better. Already loaded with considerable talent, Ramstein was strengthened by the late-season arrival of senior Wilkerson. The 6-foot-3 guard arrived from Rochester, N.Y., at the end of January and stepped into the Royal starting five, reinforcing a lineup built around senior playmaker Xavier Harper and senior frontcourt tandem Gray and Trey Bailey.

Wilkerson quickly bought into the Royals’ mission.

“I love Ramstein,” Wilkerson said. “It’s been amazing.”

Wilkerson’s arrival gave the Royals an athletic wing to finish at the rim, O’Connor said, addressing one of the few weaknesses on the Ramstein roster.

“Lucky break for us,” O’Connor said. “Bad break for DODDS.”

Raiders coach Corey Sullivan declined to offer excuses.

“I’m going to give Ramstein credit,” Sullivan said. “I hate doing it, but they’re a good team and they deserve it.”

Saturday’s game was the fourth time this season the teams have faced off. The Raiders won the first meeting 47-46 on Jan. 13; Ramstein evened the score two weeks later with a 46-39 win. The Royals also claimed the teams’ pool-play tournament game Thursday by a score of 38-32.

Though their paths often crossed, the two finalists qualified for the championship game in vastly different fashions.

Second-seeded Ramstein cruised undefeated and largely unchallenged through pool play; the win over Kaiserslautern was its only single-digit victory. That trend continued in Friday’s letdown of a semifinal, a mercy-rule destruction of overmatched Naples.

Third-seeded Kaiserslautern faced a more perilous road of surviving and advancing, including a three-point win over Vilseck on Wednesday and the Thursday loss to the Royals. But that grind paid off Friday night in a gritty 46-41 defeat of top-seeded and previously-undefeated Patch, which sent the two-time defending champions to the third-place game and guaranteed a new champion.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, that new champ turned out to be their old nemesis.

The title is Ramstein’s first since it won two straight in 2009 and 2010. The Royals lost the next three championship games before missing last year’s. Including Saturday, Ramstein has played in 10 of the last 12 Division I European championship games.

Gray was a sophomore on the 2013 team that lost the title game to Patch. He made sure his teammates shared his pain before tipoff Saturday.

“That really hurt,” Gray said. “That’s the worst feeling ever.”

The Raiders, meanwhile, appeared in the Division I boys championship game for the first time since losing consecutive title games to Heidelberg in 2001 and 2002. The boys program’s title drought dates back to 1981, though Sullivan led the school to a girls’ championship in 2013.

Now Sullivan’s squad is dealing with the empty feeling that Gray described.

"I’m happy with my boys. I know they wanted more,” Sullivan said. “They showed me a lot this week.”

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripesRamstein 47, Kaiserslautern 32 Saturday at Wiesbaden, GermanyKaiserslautern 6 4 9 13 -- 32Ramstein 9 12 11 15 -- 47Scoring – Kaiserslautern: Bridger Hawkins 12, Jeremy Morgan 8, Antwan Haynes 6, Caleb Chastain 2, Malcolm Clark 2, Ja’Markus Myles 2; Ramstein: Jesse Gray 16, Devin Wilkerson 15, Trey Bailey 6, Xavier Harper 4, Isaac Moreno 3, Spencer Wright 2, Mitchell McKinney 1

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