RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – It may be only three games into the season, but it’s never too early to make a statement, especially on the road.

The Stuttgart boys and girls basketball teams traveled to Ramstein High School on Friday evening to square off with the rival Royals. And both squads came out on top, the girls opening the varsity doubleheader with a 42-25 victory and the boys taking the nightcap 53-40.

“Coming into their home gym our third game of the season, I think we played pretty well,” Stuttgart senior Jacob Schudel said. “I feel like it was a statement game.”

The Panther boys (3-0, 1-0) are coming of the DODEA-Europe Division I championship over Ramstein (2-1, 2-1) last season, and the two squads expect to be in the running come tournament time in mid-February.

On the girls side, The Panthers (3-0, 1-0) dropped all four contests against the Royals (2-1, 2-1) last campaign, which made Friday’s win sweeter.

“Ramstein’s been a really difficult team to beat the last couple years,” senior forward Ella Kirk said. “We’ve been wanting to beat Ramstein for a long time.”

Boys

The Panthers weren’t tall last year when they won the title. This campaign, they’re even shorter, having lost a lot of their height in that squad’s MVP and leading rebounder.

So, it was a bit of a shock when Stuttgart stepped onto the floor ahead of Friday’s game against Ramstein. The Royals are even bigger and longer than last winter.

“Ramstein is as big as I’ve seen them,” Stuttgart coach Chris Jackson said. “They’re big, they’re long, they’re lanky, they’re aggressive, and coach (Brendon Rouse) always does a great job of making them play hard.

“So, we just have to be more efficient. We’re faster, and we’re seasoned. We have guys back that understand the way that we need to play.”

The Panthers used their speed and savvy to control the game from start to finish, trailing by just one point for all of 49 seconds early in the first quarter before taking the lead for good.

Stuttgart forced Ramstein into 25 turnovers, 17 of which were thefts. Junior guard Tyler Jackson and senior forward Chris Hess recorded four apiece.

Those steals led to transition points, specifically during a 15-0 run that started with 35 seconds left in the first quarter until the 4 minute, 52 second mark in the second. Even if the Panthers didn’t get a basket, they picked up the foul and hit the free-throw line, from which they went 16 of 22.

“We have a lot of new guys, and I feel like we’re just starting to hit our stride,” Schudel said. “I feel like we’re going to get faster and better from here.”

Schudel himself had a big game. He amassed a game-high 19 points, all but two of which came in the first half. The senior also posted a 7-of-8 mark from the charity stripe.

The performance didn’t surprise his coach.

“Jacob Schudel is capable of scoring 20 to 30 points a game with no problem,” Jackson said. “The thing is we want to get him to rebound and play defense because he’s also one of our taller players.

“I wasn’t shocked (by his performance). I was more shocked that they were leaving him open because in my opinion he’s the best shooter in DODEA.”

The Royals, meanwhile, struggled from the line. They went 42.3 percent.

Their game plan seemed to use their bigs against the smaller Panthers. Ramstein also got Stuttgart into foul trouble early, with Stuttgart having two starters foul out. One of them, senior guard Ismael Anglada-Paz, picked up his fifth foul at the 1:56 mark in the third frame.

Rouse isn’t pushing the panic button, however. Instead, he pointed out the Royals were missing their point guard to alleviate some of the Stuttgart pressure, and he’s dealing with a new squad.

Tyrell Edwards paced the Royals with 15 points.

“It’s a brand-new season,” Rouse said. “It’s real early. We’re just working some things out. I think we’ll be fine.”

Girls

The Panthers needed a half to kick it into high gear.

Once they did on Friday evening, the Royals couldn’t keep up. Stuttgart opened the second half on a 14-2 run that increased its advantage over the hosts to 30-16 at the 3:09 mark in the third quarter. A Kirk steal and layup capped off that string.

That lead proved to be large for Ramstein to claw back.

“Stuttgart-Ramstein is a longtime rivalry. Playing Ramstein, we always get excited, a little jumpy and stuff,” Stuttgart coach Robin Hess said. “The second half, we calmed it down. They played ball I knew they could play.”

The low block played a key role in the victory.

It started with Kirk in the first half, whose seven points got the Panthers back into the game and whose layup with 51 seconds left in the second quarter gave Stuttgart the lead for good.

Kirk finished with a game-high 12 points and 12 rebounds.

In the second half, the Panthers got fellow forward Hannah Holmes involved. The sophomore dropped all nine of her points in the second half.

“Last year, we weren’t really strong with our shooters,” Kirk said. “This year, we have a really good variety of shooters and low-post (players). We’re going to get better as we go in the low post.”

For the Royals, senior Bralyn Jones strung together a few baskets in the fourth frame to accrue 10 points.

But first-year coach Christina Hewitt said the team must keep other veteran starters out of foul trouble, which plagued the Royals on Friday.

“I think we’re exactly where we need to be,” Hewitt said. “We’re young and it’s a transition time, and we’ve got to come in every day to get better. We’ll be all right.”

The two schools’ squads face off again Saturday.

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