Sigonella’s Mikari Spencer goes up for a layup Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, but Baumholder’s Leo Kirkland has other ideas on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Italy – All but three of the 20 games held on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I and Division III basketball championships Wednesday were decided by double digits.
The ones that weren’t involved teams from Ramstein. And the only that didn’t go according to seeding also involved the Royals.
The SHAPE Spartans, blown out by Ramstein to open the regular season, stunned the No. 2 boys team in the D-I tournament 45-43 and – if form remains true in play Thursday – moved a huge step closer to qualifying for the semifinals.
No one present at the fitness center on Clay Kaserne seemed to be able to recall the last time the fifth-seeded Spartans had defeated the Royals in a boys basketball game.
“At least a long, long time,” SHAPE coach Brant Tryon said.
Not that the two teams haven’t played some close games recently. Ramstein defeated SHAPE last year on a buzzer beater during the regular season and in an overtime at the championships.
“We always came up on the bottom end,” Tryon said. “So maybe today was just our time.”
Alconbury's Aaron Dudley scores Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III boysbasketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Brussels' Nino Kapanadze shoots Wednesday, Feb.12, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ansbach's Victoria Ortiz puts up a quick shot Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division III girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Brussels' Liam Richard gets set to shoot Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division III boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Dem'Ree Carter has her shot blocked Wednesday, Feb. 12,2025, by Kaiserslautern's Hassa Diallo on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Divsion I girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
The Spartans got a big boost from sophomore Lincoln Coley, who transferred from Baumholder in the fall.
Coley, who led his team with 14 points off the bench, helped SHAPE build an 11-point advantage with about 3 minutes to play.
The Spartans, who essentially were trying to kill as much of the clock as possible – action in pool play consists of four 7-minute quarters – saw their lead almost evaporate.
“The idea was to pass the ball around until we got a shot we were going to make 90 percent of the time,” Tryon said. “But we made some bad passes and turned the ball over.”
Two free throws from Christian Roy with 1:12 to play trimmed the lead to 40-36. Ramstein came up with another steal, but Coley promptly stole it back and scored on a layup.
Stuttgart's Hannah Holmes tries to score Wednesday, Feb. 12,2025, during the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Carter Edwards tries to score against Vilseck's Josh Benn on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys basketball championships Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Shay King tries to shoot over the out-stretched hands of Lakenheath's Luciana Hill on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
SHAPE's Matteo Sanciu shoots Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Maggie Masse blocks a shot from Alconbury's Naomi Little on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III girls basketball championships on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Emery Koger puts up a scoop shot Wednesday, Feb.12,2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
After Ramstein trimmed the lead to three, the Spartans stopped them on three straight possessions. Each time, Coley was fouled. But he missed five of six free throws to keep the Royals’ hopes alive.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Coley said. “But when you miss one or two free throws, it can start going to your head.
“As long as we win, it doesn’t matter. That was a big win.”
The Royals bounced back by defeating Kaiserslautern 38-32 later in the day. But the Royals may need to defeat No. 2 seed Stuttgart on Thursday to have a shot at advancing to Friday’s semifinals. The Panthers rolled past Kaiserslautern 47-28 in another pool game.
In the opposite pool, unbeaten Wiesbaden blitzed Vilseck 60-30.
Wiesbaden's Kariyah Housey scores Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden,Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath's Solymar Brown puts up a quick shot Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Adrian Anglada-Paz shoots between Kaiserslautern defenders Wednesday, Feb. 12,2025, during the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Garrett Vitter shoots Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Theo Reyes goes up for a layup Wednesday, Feb. 12,2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III boys basketball championship in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Angelaurie Owens, right, battles for a rebound with Baumholder's Emily Ramirez on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III girls basketball championships on Wednesday, Feb. 12,2025, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ansbach's Jack Lovallo tries to score Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
D-I girls action went exactly according to seeding. Kaiserslautern won twice – including a 32-26 win over Ramstein that was the only other game decided by less than 10 points – and Stuttgart and Wiesbaden both won their only games Wednesday.
In Division III play, both top-ranked Hohenfels teams looked dominant in their only games of the day. The girls, paced by twins Malea (17 points) and Jalissa Jobity (15 points), stifled Baumholder 47-28. The boys, substituting frequently, still handily defeated Ansbach 48-28.
Many other games were very lopsided and mirrored the regular season.
Spangdahlem’s game with AFNORTH in boys action was the only one at the fitness center that featured any players topping the 20-point mark. Zander Doulder had 32 points for the Sentinels, but it wasn’t enough as Stefan Termure had 26 in the Lions’ 67-55 victory.
Action resumes at 8 a.m. Wednesday with 20 more games on the schedule between the two divisions.
Fans watch AFNORTH's Stefan Termure score a basket Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
SHAPE's Iveta Stefancinova goes up for a layup in the Spartans' game against Vilseck on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I girls basketball championships Wednesday, Feb. 12,2025, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Spangdahlem's Zander Doulder puts up two of his day-high 32 points Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division III boys basketball tournament in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Jayslin Santellano launches a three-point shot Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I girls basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Josh Benn goes up for a shot on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath's Jayden Shepherd takes a free throw Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, at the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's Alysia Dobbins and Spangdahlem's Brooklyn Shakir-Bachhus battle for the ball Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe girls Division III basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
