Subscribe

When all’s said and done in the DODDS-Europe boys basketball championships on Saturday, there is a good chance that defending champions Ramstein, Aviano and Sigonella will all head home with repeat titles.

But none is a foregone conclusion.

All three are facing serious challenges, when 32 teams from the mid-Atlantic to the Persian Gulf converge in Mannheim starting on Wednesday. This year, there are just three titles instead of four as in the recent past, but if the title opportunities have shrunk, the quality of field hasn’t. It’s gone the other way.

Here’s a division-by-division look at this week’s three simultaneous tournaments.

Division I: Ramstein and Heidelberg have played in the past three D-I championship games, and if this year’s seedings hold, No. 1 Ramstein (13-1), which broke through 53-47 last season after falling to Heidelberg in the previous two finales, and the No. 2 Lions (11-3) will face off again.

If that happens, it’ll be largely because Ramstein, for the third straight year, suits up an All-Europe backcourt in seniors Dillon Wadsack and Michael Wallace. For its part, Heidelberg will have countered with Devin Jackson and Eugene Jones.

This year, however, there’s power far below the top seeds. No. 3 Patch (10-2 and led by Julius Johnson-Rich, Justin Phelps and Dylan Measelles) holds a victory over each of the top two. No. 4 International School of Brussels is unbeaten at 8-0, and No. 5 Kaiserslautern, which fields the division’s top rebounding game in Bernard Burwell and Thomas Russ, also enter the title picture.

Division II: If all the close games that figure to decide the D-I crown don’t satisfy, turn your attention to this division, where top-seeded defending champion Aviano (13-1) might be severely tested by No. 2 Hohenfels (8-4), No. 3 Bamberg (8-6) and No. 4 American Overseas School of Rome (9-5).

"Aviano and Hohenfels could be a great match in the final," e-mailed Vince Purpero, who’d obviously prefer to see his No. 8 Black Forest Academy Falcons in that game. "Jamal Tuck is a great athlete and will be a key player for (Aviano)," Purpero wrote. "I think Hohenfels has a deeper team with their trio of (Jordan) Gaddy, (Jamie) Tompkins and (Miguel) Chestnut."

Especially Tompkins, who transferred in this year.

"(Point guard) Jamie Tompkins is the best I’ve seen in my two years here," Ansbach coach Dan Smith e-mailed Monday. "He’s tough."

Tuck scored 37 points in his last game, an 81-72 loss at AOSR that spoiled the defending champs’ unbeaten season. But he’s far from an one-man team — Sean Outing and Shaheed Seaton can fill the hoop, too. As can AOSR’s Lorenzo Mazzoni, who scored 34 points to counter Tuck in that regular-season finale for both.

No one should count out Bamberg, either. The Barons have been up and down, earning victories over Patch and Hohenfels this season behind Quadel Webb, Javonte Knuckles, Danny Kieser and Josh Fletcher.

Division III: The obvious choices to play for the D-III crown are defending champion Sigonella (11-3), the No. 2 seed whose losses came at the hands of Aviano and Naples of D-II, and perennial small-schools power Rota (6-0), which obliterated three D-III foes last month at Alconbury.

Rota sophomore Tre’von Owens averaged nearly 30 points per game in the Admirals’ lone foray into regular-season DODDS competition, and he’s backed by Caleb Arnold and Dale Parker. But Owens is the key.

Said Brussels coach Chris Vahrenhorst in an e-mail: "…Owens will be fun to watch, unless you’re playing against him."

Sigonella counters with Larry Stevenson, a skilled ball-handler who’s averaging 78 percent on free throws, 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent on treys; Tyron Andrews, who shoots 57 percent inside the arc and 50 percent on threes, and James Campbell, a 63 percent field-goal shooter.

Don’t, however, overlook the division’s other six teams, cautioned Vahrenhorst.

"While Rota and Sigonella seem like the strong favorites to return to the final game," he wrote, "at least Menwith Hill (led by Scottie Setzer and Chris Jackson), Alconbury (propelled by Taylor Williamson and Greg Pettiway) and Brussels (fueled by Matiss Suideikis, Marc Proietto and Braden Brower) can all be dangerous teams, each with very different styles of play. But no one has seen Incirlik, Ankara or Lajes, so who knows?"

60th DODDS-Europe championshipsWhen: Tip-offs every 75 minutes from 8 a.m.- 7:15 p.m. Wednesday; 8:30 a.m.-5:45 p.m. Thursday; 8 a.m-8:30 p.m. Friday; tip-offs every 90 minutes 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Benjamin Franklin Village Sports Arena, Sullivan and Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, and Patton Barracks, Heidelberg, on Wednesday; BFV Sports Arena, Sullivan and Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Patton Barracks and Heidelberg High School, Heidelberg, and Tompkins Barracks, Schwetzingen, on Thursday; BFV Sports Arena, Sullivan, Coleman and Patton Barracks on Friday; BFV Sports Arena and Sullivan Barracks on Saturday

What’s at stake: European boys and girls championships in Divisions I, II and III

Admission: $5 for adults and $3 for students; under age 5 free. Please note that by order of the Mannheim fire marshal, anyone leaving a venue and opting to re-enter that same day must buy a new ticket.

2009 championsDivision IBoys Ramstein GirlsHeidelberg

Division IIBoys AvianoGirlsAviano

Division IIIBoys BaumholderGirls Baumholder

Division IVBoys SigonellaGirlsRota

The seedings(Season records in parentheses)

Division IBoys1. Ramstein (13-1)2. Heidelberg (11-3)3. Patch (10-2)4. Int. Sch. Brussels (8-0)5. Kaiserslautern (9-3)6. Wiesbaden (7-7)7. Lakenheath (6-7)8. Vilseck (2-10)9. SHAPE (1-12)Girls 1. Patch (12-0)|2. Wiesbaden (12-2)3. Kaiserslautern (9-4)4. Ramstein (8-7)5. SHAPE (9-4)6. Int. Sch. Brussels (4-4)7. Heidelberg (7-7)8. Lakenheath (7-5)9. Vilseck (3-10)

Division IIBoys 1. Aviano (13-1)2. Hohenfels (8-4)3. Bamberg (8-6)4. AOSR (8-6)5. Ansbach (5-9)6. Mannheim (2-10)7. Bitburg (8-4)8. BFA (3-9)9. AFNORTH (6-7)10. Naples (8-6)11. Vicenza (9-5)12. Baumholder (2-10)13. Bahrain (0-0)14. Marymount (3-10)15. Milan (1-13)Girls 1. Bamberg (11-3)2. Aviano (11-1)3. AOSR (9-3)4. Mannheim (5-7)5. Bitburg (4-9)6. Ansbach (8-6)7. BFA (5-7)8. Naples (8-4)9. Milan (6-6)10. AFNORTH (6-7)11. Bahrain (0-0)12. Vicenza (3-9)13. Hohenfels (0-12)14. Baumholder (0-12)15. None

Division IIIBoys 1. Rota (6-0)2. Sigonella (11-3)3. Menwith Hill (4-8)4. Brussels (5-8)5. Incirlik (2-0)6. Ankara (0-2)7. Alconbury (2-9)8. Lajes (0-0)Girls 1. Brussels (11-2)2. Menwith Hill (8-4)3. Rota (1-5)4. Sigonella (5-7)5. Incirlik (1-1)6. Ankara (1-1)7. Alconbury (0-12)8. NoneNote: For the first time in the history of the tournament, the American Forces Network will show all six title games on the AFN Pentagon channel and afneurope.net.

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now