Spencer Miller, D’Shaun Carroll, Vernon Miles and Emanuel Moore, left to right, of Hanau High School, celebrate their Division IV boys basketball championship Friday night at the Mannheim sports arena. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
MANNHEIM, Germany — From the beginning to the end, the Hanau Panthers were equal to the challenge.
Hanau’s boys basketball team joined the school’s football team in winning a European championship in the school’s final year of existence with a 62-48 victory Friday night over Rota in the European Division IV final.
“To me, basketball’s better,” said Hanau junior Spencer Miller, a key performer on both title-winning teams when asked to compare the titles.
Miller, who was voted tournament MVP, got Hanau started in a style that was closer to Rota’s than its own take-it-to-the-rack style featured during the Panthers’ 12-2 regular season and a 5-0 mark in the tournament. Miller and teammate D’Shaun Carroll each buried two three-point shots in the first quarter.
“They left me open,” said Miller, who made four threes for the game and finished with 22 points.
Added Hanau coach Tim Smith: “We usually drive more, but D’Shaun hit a couple of threes, and we got hot.”
Hot enough to register nine threes in 12 tries, one more than Rota, whose Alan Dowden and Kieta Silk are masters of the shot. On Friday, Dowden hit three three-pointers and Silk two.
Jeff Shelton led Rota with 22 points, including two three-pointers. Shelton, who had nine rebounds, is a force to be reckoned with anywhere on the court, but is particularly dangerous as a slasher, acccording to Smith.
“We just didn’t want him to drive,” Smith said. “We wanted to stop the drive and keep someone on their shooters.”
Ahead just 19-17 after one period, Hanau pumped in consecutive three-pointers from Miller and Emanuel Moore, who finished with a game-high 24 points, to open a 25-18 lead as the second period began. Miller ended the period with three straight field goals as the Panthers went up 38-27.
They then put the game away with a 12-2 run over the next 5:40 of the third period.
Moore said the Panthers expected to meet the Admirals in their final basketball game of all time.
“We kind of foresaw it before the tournament started,” Moore said. “We knew they were good.”
Rota trailed by 22 points at the end of the third period, but a spate of uncharacteristic Hanau turnovers allowed the Admirals to close the gap to 13 in the late going. Not close enough, however, to derail Hanau’s gilde into history.
“It’s been fun and challenging,” Smith said. “We’ve only had seven players, and two of them are freshmen, but we only lost to the big schools.”
See more photos from Friday's tournament games here.
