Chakeira GilbertBasketball Vicenza High School

Last week: Gilbert, a 5-foot-5 sophomore point guard, made her DODDS-Europe debut Friday in Sigonella, and responded by scoring all 33 of her team’s points in a 43-33 loss to American Schools in Italy contender Sigonella.

“It was my highest (career) total,” said Gilbert, 15. “I scored 29 once in seventh grade.”

Gilbert, who said she scored her points on a mix of drives to the basket and perimeter shots, was transitioning to a game vastly unlike the one she experienced as a freshman in Copperas Cove, Texas.

“It was very different,” she said of Texas hoops, where as a freshman on the varsity, playing time was hard to come by. “I came from a big high school.”

Gilbert’s scoring average was cut in half on Saturday, when a Sigonella box-and-one held her scoreless for the two-plus quarters of a 49-9 courtesy-rule loss.

“They were tough,” Gilbert said.

— Selected by Stars and Stripes staff.

Carlos QuinonesBasketball Sigonella High School

Last week: Quinones, a transfer from Florida, made the transition from an incoming senior to hometown star Friday and Saturday, scoring 23 points each day in a 57-33, 44-40 sweep of visiting Vicenza that inaugurated Sigonella’s new base gym.

In addition to his game-honors scoring each day, Quinones’ speed and quick hands played key roles in opening up decisive leads each day, according to Sigonella basketball sponsor Greg Volz.

“Carlos had at least four steals in each of the games this past weekend,” Volz wrote in an e-mail on Tuesday, “along with the same number of fast-break baskets.”

According to Volz, fast-break opportunities by Quinones and B.J. Washington helped Sig expand an 8-7 first-quarter lead to a 29-9 halftime edge. On Saturday, steals by Quinones, Washington and Mike Lally broke open a two-point game and allowed the Jaguars to take a 34-28 lead into the final quarter.

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