MANNHEIM, Germany — As the field of title contenders narrowed Thursday, the action intensified on the second day of the DODDS-Europe high school basketball championships.

“It was thrilling,” Hanau senior Lisa Fontanez said after her Lady Panthers advanced to Thursday night’s Division IV semifinals with a 36-29 victory over previously unbeaten and top-seeded Rota on Thursday morning. “My heart was racing the whole time.”

Fontanez scored 18 points for No. 4 Hanau, which is scheduled to close in June. She credited her school’s situation for her team’s success against Rota.

“We played as a team,” she said. “We wanted it so bad because it’s our last year.”

Hanau earned the Pool A championship and a semifinal berth against defending D-IV champ Brussels, runner-up in Pool B. Lajes, which was to face Rota in the other late semifinal, beat Brussels 24-18 Thursday morning.

Semifinal winners advance to Friday’s 2:30 p.m. title game.

The boys D-IV semifinals, scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Friday, pit Hanau against Menwith Hill at the Sports Arena and Rota against Alconbury at Sullivan Barracks here. Hanau and Rota wrapped up undefeated pool runs on Thursday.

Division I settled on its finalists for Friday’s girls and boys title games at the Benjamin Franklin Village Sports Area.

Ramstein’s boys, who beat Lakenheath 58-36 Thursday behind 13 points by Scott Sublousky and 11 points and seven rebounds by Evan Canfield, were to play defending D-I champion Heidelberg in Thursday night’s round-robin finale. Regardless of the outcome, the teams, both 3-0 in pool play, will face off again at 7:45 p.m. Friday.

Ramstein’s girls and Kaiserslautern were to close out their round-robins against each other late Thursday, then play again at 6 p.m. Friday for the D-I title. Both teams were unbeaten here going into Thursday’s game.

In D-II boys, No. 7 Patch stormed into Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinals with a 68-52 victory over No. 2 Naples. Patch, which toppled No. 3 Ansbach 63-59 on Wednesday, will take a 3-0 record into its final pool-play game at 9 a.m. Friday against Bitburg (1-2).

Ansbach, which beat Naples 49-36 Thursday morning behind 22 points from 6-foot-9 Sam Freeman, was in position to clinch the pool’s other berth with a victory over Mannheim late Thursday.

“We knew we had to win this game,” Ansbach’s Jon Willis said after the Naples game. “Now we’ve got to beat Mannheim. If we don’t beat Mannheim, it didn’t do any good to beat Naples.”

SHAPE’s boys and girls, both seeded first in D-II, enjoyed very different afternoons Thursday. The unbeaten Spartan boys escaped Wiesbaden 44-43 in the morning, then sank Aviano 57-35 to advance to Friday’s semifinal.

However, SHAPE’s Lady Spartans, also seeded first, absorbed a 52-36 licking at the hands of Italy runner-up Aviano on Thursday morning. SHAPE was to face No. 4 Mannheim later in the day in a make-or-break game for both teams. Aviano (4-0) ensured itself of the pool championship with a 40-36 victory over Black Forest Academy.

Keeping pace with its Italy rival was defending European D-II girls champion Naples. The Lady Wildcats took a 3-0 pool record into their finale against Vilseck on Thursday.

Division III began play Thursday, and the Bamberg boys, a team grieving over the death earlier in the week of their coach, Charles Jordan, had to dig deep again in the opener.

Ryan Morris’ layup at the buzzer gave the Barons a 55-54 victory over Marymount.

“I think we were a little shaky at first,” Morris said by telephone after the Barons, the D-IV champs last year and top-seeded in D-III this time, thumped Würzburg 67-45. “In the second game, we came out strong.”

Morris added that his team is doing more than just grieve here for their late coach. “We’re definitely trying to bring the title home for him,” he said.

The D-III girls field held no surprises Thursday as the two title favorites, Baumholder and Vicenza, opened with lopsided victories. Baumholder throttled Milan 44-6, and Vicenza decked Würzburg 54-28. Like Hanau, Würzburg is ticketed to close in June.

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