Brussels' Aljaz Urbanc, left, goes for a layup past Sigonella's Sean Solano during the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Sigonella won the Division III game 34-30 and clinched a spot in the finals. (Michael B. Keller/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – A final flurry of round-robin play Friday produced the matchups for Saturday’s 2016-17 DODEA-Europe Division III boys and girls basketball championship games.
Sigonella will take on Ansbach for the boys title. Baumholder wrapped up its spot in the girls final early and will take on Sigonella, which won a tiebreaker with Brussels and Alconbury.
BoysSigonella secured its spot in the final and ousted defending champion Brussels from the bracket with a 34-30 defeat of the Brigands on Friday afternoon.
The Jaguars first shook up the small-school round-robin bracket Thursday night with a 44-43 defeat of the Baumholder Bucs, the division’s season-long frontrunner.
Ansbach finished off the Bucs on Friday morning with a 42-32 win that clinched its own berth in the championship game. Ogden Andrew scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, including three three-pointers in the third quarter, to lead the Cougars to the key victory.
The Jaguars and Cougars opened the tournament Wednesday with an early-morning round-robin matchup. Ansbach won that game 38-35.
Ansbach is back in the title game for a second straight season, having lost to Brussels in last year’s edition. Sigonella is eying its second title in three seasons; the Jaguars won the 2015 crown, then finished third a year ago.
GirlsBaumholder locked up its spot early Friday with a 27-18 defeat of Brussels, then accepted a meaningless – for them, at least – loss to Alconbury, 16-10.
That loss did keep the Dragons alive for a few more games, though. In fact, had Alconbury defeated Hohenfels in its final round-robin game, it would be playing in the finals. Instead, the Tigers’ 37-29 victory sent the Dragons into a three-way tie with Sigonella and Brussels, all at 3-2. Each team beat one of its foes and lost to another, leading to another tie-breaker. Sigonella and Brussels each had plus six-point differentials in those games, but Alconbury’s was minus 12. With two teams left, Sigonella advanced due to the 22-12 victory over the Brigands on Wednesday.
The Bucs are playing for their second title in the last three years. They beat Sigonella for the 2015 crown, then finished third a year ago.
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