Wiesbaden's Nancy Jensen, left, and Monique Hall tie up Kaiserslautern's Lynndsey Hyter during the first Division I semi-final game at the 2006 DODDS European basketball tournament in Mannheim on Thursday. Kaiserslautern beat Wiesbaden 71-48 to advance to Friday's championship game. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Wiesbaden's Nancy Jensen, left, and Monique Hall tie up Kaiserslautern's Lynndsey Hyter during the first Division I semi-final game at the 2006 DODDS European basketball tournament in Mannheim on Thursday. Kaiserslautern beat Wiesbaden 71-48 to advance to Friday's championship game. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Kaiserslautern's Bianca Gerena-Perez eyes the basket over Wiesbaden's Lakendra Washington. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
MANNHEIM, Germany — The fourth-seeded Ramstein Lady Royals outrebounded No. 2 seed International School of Brussels in the late going Thursday to pull off a 37-33 upset in the semifinals of the European Division I basketball tournament.
The victory set up a rematch of last year’s title game, won by Ramstein, against neighborhood rival Kaiserslautern. K-town had moved into Friday’s 6 p.m. final earlier in the day with a 71-48 victory over Wiesbaden.
Slender Kendra Lenoir did the heavy lifting for Ramstein, sliding between the taller and heavier ISB forwards for seven second-half rebounds, three in the fourth quarter as ISB was desperately trying to come back.
“I just improved on my boxing out,” the junior swing player said. “I’ve been practicing.”
Lenoir also contributed at the offensive end, calmly sinking her 11th and 12th points of the game with 55 seconds left to give Ramstein a four-point lead and setting up a two-possession game for ISB.
Also cool in the clutch was Dallas Norman, whose field goal with 4:50 left put Ramstein ahead to stay at 33-31. She also converted the front end of a one-and-one to make it 36-33 moments later. Lisa Domingo added 12 points for Ramstein.
Kaiserslautern is one victory away from a perfect season and its first European Division I basketball championship after its dominating victory.
But the win didn’t feel all that dominating to K-town’s All-Europe pivot, Bianca Gerena-Perez.
After the Lady Raiders took a 37-20 halftime lead, Gerena-Perez posted an assist, converted a three-point play and sank a put-back during a four-minute stretch, as K-town moved ahead 61-28 at the end of three periods.
“It felt like we were losing,” said Gerena-Perez, who finished with 11 points, of the reason for her take-charge attitude. “We came out strong.”
Freshman Kamiko Williams, who sat out the fourth quarter, led Kaiserslautern with 19 points. She also collected 12 rebounds. Lynndsey Hyter added 15 points for Kaiserslautern.
In the other girls tournaments:
Division II: Top-seeded and defending champion Hanau remained unbeaten in pool play, rebounding from a narrow 38-36 victory over Bitburg on Wednesday night to defeat Naples 40-33 on Thursday.
Second-seeded SHAPE kept pace with victories in its first three games.
The D-2 semifinals are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and noon Friday at the BFV Sports Arena and Sullivan Barracks gyms, respectively. The final is Saturday.
Division III: Top-seeded Sigonella won twice as the D-3 round-robin opened, and second-seeded Baumholder had no trouble bouncing Vicenza and defending champion Rota.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for 9 and 10:30 a.m. Friday at Sullivan Barracks and Coleman Barracks in Mannheim.
Division IV: Giessen was to play top-seeded Brussels and Incirlik was taking on defending champion Alconbury in Thursday night’s semifinals. Winners play for the title at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Scores and schedulesDivision I
Wednesday’s late pool-play results
Heidelberg 39, Lakenheath 23
Kaiserslautern 46, Ramstein 14
Thursday’s pool-play results
Lakenheath 43, Wiesbaden 42
Int’l School of Brussels 45, Heidelberg 33
Thursday’s semifinals
Kaiserslautern 71, Wiesbaden 48
Ramstein 37, ISB 33
Friday's games
Third place at BFV Sports Arena, Mannheim
ISB vs. Wiesbaden, 10:15 a.m.
Championship
at BFV Sports Arena, Mannheim
Kaiserslautern vs. Ramstein, 6 p.m.
Division II
Wednesday's late pool-play results
Mannheim 55, Naples 54
Black Forest Academy 53, Aviano 51
Hanau 38, Bitburg 36
SHAPE 59, Patch 39
Thursday's pool-play results
AFNORTH 38, Aviano 35
Hanau 40, Naples 33
SHAPE 33, BFA 19
Bitburg 35, Mannheim 28
Naples 48, Vilseck 36
BFA 23, Patch 21
Hanau vs. Mannheim, late
SHAPE vs. Aviano, late
Patch vs. AFNORTH, late
Bitburg vs. Vilseck, late
Friday's games
Semifinals
11:30 a.m. at BFV Sports Arena, Mannheim
Noon at Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim
Third place
at Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim
Semifinal losers, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday's game
Championship
at BFV Sports Arena, Mannheim
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.
Division III
Thursday's pool-play results
London Central 44, American Overseas School of Rome 14
Baumholder 65, Vicenza 30
Sigonella 58, Ansbach 26
Hohenfels 30, London Central 25
Baumholder 42, Rota 20
Sigonella 32, Bamberg 25
Hohenfels vs. AOSR, late
Rota vs. Vicenza, late
Bamberg vs. Ansbach, late
Friday's games
Quarterfinals
9 and 10:30 a.m. at Sullivan and Coleman Barracks, Mannheim
Semifinals
at Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim
Quarterfinal winners, 3 and 4:30 p.m.
Saturday's games
Third place
at Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim
Semifinal losers, 9 a.m.
Championship
at BFV Sports Arena, Mannheim
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.
Division IV
Wednesday's late pool-play results
Alconbury 32, Menwith Hill 16
Brussels 37, Iceland 13
Incirlik 42, Milan 26
Menwith Hill 35, Lajes 22
Iceland 22, Ankara 17
Thursday's pool-play results
Brussels 30, Lajes 15
Alconbury 33, Ankara 24
Incirlik 27, Iceland 20
Giessen 47, Menwith Hill 24
Thursday's semifinals
Brussels vs. Giessen, late
Incirlik vs. Alconbury, late
Friday's games
Third place
at Sullivan barracks, Mannheim
Semifinal losers, 10:30 a.m.
Championship
at BFV Sports Arena, Mannheim
Semifinal winners, 2:30 p.m.
