HEIDELBERG, Germany — Ramstein’s men and women sent the other two USAFE teams home from the U.S. Forces-Europe basketball tournament with easy victories Friday afternoon.
Ramstein women 89, Spangdahlem 65
Ramstein applied full-court pressure on every Aviano in-bounds pass to pull away from a 10-10 tie to a 25-14 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
The Lady Rams then concentrated on wining the battle down low against Spang’s sizable duo of Gwendolyn Parker and Tracie Davis, sending Joy Perisco and Sally White to lead the way.
“They were big,” White said, “but big doesn’t mean anything if you can’t move.”
Each duo scored 28 points, but Perisco and White outrebounded Parker and Davis 21-13. Perisco had 15 rebounds and led Ramstein with 18 points, while White scored 10.
White credited her backcourt for getting the ball inside.
“When the guards concentrate on getting the ball to whoever’s hot,” she said, “we do well.”
Parker led all scorers with 21 points, but she picked up her fourth foul just before halftime and was forced to sit much of the second half. Shawn Horges added 16 for Spang, which bows out after consecutive defeats, including a 72-36 loss to defending U.S. Forces-Europe champion Heidelberg.
Ramstein — which also got 14 points from Larina Whitehorse, 13 from Brandi Pack and 10 from Molly Erickson — advances to Saturday’s 4 p.m. losers-bracket final against the loser of Friday’s late Heidelberg-Mannheim winners-bracket final.
Ramstein men 88, Aviano 60
Ramstein forced 31 turnovers in its easy victory.
“That’s the way we play,” said Ramstein point guard Brandon Le Blanc, who led all scorers with 23 points. “We always want to pressure the ball as much as we can.”
Ramstein veteran Troy Miles added 21 points, and center Austin Layton scored 16.
The Rams put on the decisive burst with a 25-11 run over the last 12:23 of a first half, during which Aviano turned the ball over 16 times.
Aviano, which lost to Army-Europe champion Heidelberg 75-70 on Thursday night, got 17 points from Rob Gray. Gray was Aviano’s lone double-figure scorer.
Ramstein will play the loser of Friday night’s Heidelberg-Mannheim game in Saturday’s 4 p.m. losers-bracket final.
