Schweinfurt's Lajuarren Banks leaps before taking his shot during a game Friday in Ansbach, Germany. Schweinfurt won 48-36. ( David Rogers/Stars and Stripes)
ANSBACH, Germany – Ansbach’s girls basketball team had a big second half Friday to beat Schweinfurt 71-38 in the season opener for both schools.Ansbach's Chealsy Reaves led the scoring 27 points, while Schweinfurt's Morgan Shreve scored 20 points with six three-pointers.The game was close in the first half, with Schweinfurt leading 25-23. But as the Razorbacks’ offense came up short in the second half, Ansbach took the lead.Schweinfurt began the game with a disadvantage as it only had seven players due to issues with eligibility and missed mandatory practices.With a minute and a half left in the game, Schweinfurt's Ariana Diaz injured her ankle and had to be carried off the court. With two other players fouled out, Schweinfurt carried on with four players until Morgan Shreve fouled out, leaving the team with three players for the last 30 seconds of the game."I've learned that my girls have a lot more heart in them than I could've ever imagined," Schweinfurt coach Carla Nau-Redman said. "These are the girls that started off in the beginning. Stayed committed. Didn't miss practices. And they're the heart of the team.""We just played better defense," said Michael Lee Hunt, the Ansbach coach, on his team’s second-half surge. "We were letting (Shreve) shoot uncontested. She got five threes in the first half. But we came back and played well in the second half. And that showed that the girls have what it takes to win."Hunt says he has a lot of work ahead of his to strengthen the team."We're tough. We've got a strong five and we need to teach a lot of new players. We don't have a lot of depth. I don't know if I should tell the world that. But we need to work on getting more depth."
BoysSchweinfurt 48, Ansbach 36: Schweinfurt's boys beat Ansbach in a game where the point spread was rarely beyond three points until the fourth quarter.Schweinfurt's Khayree Files and Christian Carrillo had 14 points each."I think their big guys did a pretty good job and neutralized our big guys," Schweinfurt coach Jesse Woods said. "I think it was a stalemate. The game was decided on the guards. We were able to put a little bit more pressure at the end. Any team could've won the game.""They played great defense and we played great defense," Ansbach coach Adrian Lemons said. "I think that's the only reason it stayed as a tight game."Lemons said his players fell short in the fourth quarter when they started missing shots they would normally sink."I think we missed too many opportunities for layups," Lemons said. "I think we should've done better on boxing out and rebounds."Ansbach travels to Heidelberg on Saturday, while Schweinfurt has the rest of the weekend off before playing Bamberg twice the following weekend.rogersbd@stripes.osd.mil