Sam RosarioMannheim basketball

Last week - Rosario, a junior guard, had 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in Saturday’s 48-46 road upset of Wiesbaden.

According to Mannheim coach David Brown, however, it was the quality of Rosario’s numbers, as much as the quantity, that made the difference for the Division II Bison against their Division I hosts.

“He had an answer for every big basket Wiesbaden made during their run to cut our lead,” Brown wrote Wednesday in an e-mail about Rosario, who was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and 5-of-11 from the floor.

Wiesbaden, which lost for just the second time this season, trailed 28-17 at halftime, but clawed back into the game with a 16-7 third-quarter run. Rosario’s output, however, helped Mannheim forge a 13-13 fourth-quarter tie to nail down the narrow victory.

“He’s been our best player all year long,” Brown concluded, “and he really stepped up and played like it on Saturday.”

Sarah SzybistRamstein basketball

Last week - Szybist, a 5-foot-11-inch sophomore center, posted a double-double Saturday — game-highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds — to lead the Lady Royals to a 34-18 road victory over Division I rival SHAPE.

The totals exceeded her season averages of just under 12 points and 10 rebounds per game, according to Ramstein coach Nathan Brewster.

Saturday’s effort helped Ramstein, which struggled to a 1-5 opening record, to its fourth straight victory and a bit of a roll going into the concluding 16 days of the season. It was the first victory over a D-I team this season for Ramstein, 5-5 overall and 4-2 in Region II going to into Wednesday's game at Baumholder.

“She’s been one of our most consistent player all year,” Brewster said by telephone Wednesday morning. “She was forced to start every game last year because we were rebuilding and she gets better every week. Her year of hard work has really paid off.”

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