AFNORTH's Katelyn Eidson passes to a teammate as she is defended by Ankara's Milla Brown in a Division III game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. AFNORTH won 48-9. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
AFNORTH's Katelyn Eidson passes to a teammate as she is defended by Ankara's Milla Brown in a Division III game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. AFNORTH won 48-9. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Ankara's Emma Brunick drives up the court against AFNORTH's Paula Bohlen in a Division III game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. AFNORTH beat Ankara 48-9. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Sigonella's D'anna Holland pulls in a rebound against Ansbach's Melanie Smith in a Division III game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Sigonella beat the Cougars 28-21. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Ansbach's Heaven Jackson takes the ball up the court as Sigonella's Katie Payne waits to defend in a Division III game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Ansbach lost the game 28-21. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Marymount's Sofia Lopez drives against Naples' Emma Kasparek in a Division II game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Naples won 48-13. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Naples' Dasia Greely scores an off-balance basket against Marymount's Anna Aboltina in a Division II game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Naples won 48-13. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Aviano's Allana Vasquez gets past Bahrain's Kennedy Sawyer in a Division II game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Aviano won the game 30-12. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Aviano's Keyona Williams, left, and Mikyla Harkley try to stop Bahrain's Taz Abdkhair from scoring in a Division II game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Abdkhair was fouled on the play. Aviano beat Bahrain 30-12. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
AOSR's Evan Park look for a teammate to pass to as Vicenza's Kate Hunter defends in a Division II game at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Vicenza defeated AOSR 42-36. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
Vicenza's Claire Troiano shoots over AOSR's Maria Rossi in a Division II game won by Vicenza 42-36, at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (MICHAEL ABRAMS/STARS AND STRIPES)
SHAPE players look up as Kaiserslautern player Audrey Elisondo's shot bounces through the hoop during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Eden Wheeler drives to the basket during a game against SHAPE during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Audrey Elisondo dribbles down the court during a game against SHAPE during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
Black Forest Academy's Elisa DiGena takes a shot during a game against Ramstein during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
Black Forest Academy's Cassia Carr takes a shot during a game against Ramstein during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Alexis Tri takes a shot during a game against Black Forest Academy during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Rachael Babbitt takes a shot during a game against Black Forest Academy during the DODEA-Europe 2020 Division I basketball playoffs at the Southside gym on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (Brian Ferguson/Stars and Stripes)
The status quo held firm Wednesday as regular-season frontrunners Stuttgart, Aviano and Spangdahlem seized control of their respective DODEA-Europe girls basketball championship tournament brackets. Preliminary play continues in Wiesbaden and Ramstein on Thursday as teams continue to pursue spots in Saturday’s European championship games.
Division IStuttgart sharpens claws: The Panthers didn’t play with their food on Wednesday as they devoured both of the opponents they were served on opening day.
First, the Panthers routed bottom seed Lakenheath 48-8. Then they dispatched the No. 2 team in the bracket with a 43-23 win over Ramstein, making a mockery of the new tournament format placing the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the same preliminary pool.
The three-time defending champions have only seventh-seeded Black Forest on their plate on Thursday as pool play comes to a close. Ramstein handled Black Forest 42-18 on Wednesday and can clinch its semifinal spot with a Thursday defeat of Lakenheath.
SHAPE 26, Vilseck 22: The third-seeded Spartans played what forward Elena Vascos-Lavere called their “worst game of the season” early Wednesday. But it could have been worse. They could have lost.
Instead, SHAPE survived the uninspiring early-morning effort unscathed in the standings. Vascos-Lavere put back an offensive rebound for a bucket to put away the pesky sixth-seeded Falcons.
Vascos-Lavere wasn’t sure why her team came out so flat, though she suggested the game’s 8:30 a.m. start time was a potential factor. Whatever it was, the Spartans rounded into their typical form later in the day, scoring six points early in the fourth quarter to outlast fourth-seeded Kaiserslautern 40-31.
“In this game we played like a family, like a team,” Vascos-Lavere, who totaled 21 points over the two games, said after the second victory of the day. “We played with confidence.”
Wiesbaden 35, Vilseck 13: The Warriors responded to a morning disappointment with an afternoon outburst.
Still feeling the sting of a 42-40 loss to Kaiserslautern earlier Wednesday, the cornered Warriors lashed out at the Falcons with a well-rounded effort that kept their hopes of advancing past Thursday alive.
“We really knew that we needed to win this game to move on,” said Warrior guard Alynna Palacios, who outscored Vilseck herself with 17 points. “We don’t want to go home.”
To that end, Wiesbaden applied ferocious defensive pressure on the ball, consistently forcing turnovers and converting them into easy baskets on the other end. In the half court, Palacios said the Warriors excelled “driving to the basket and finding our open people” to produce more points.
Wiesbaden will again try to stay alive with its shot at SHAPE on Thursday, while Kaiserslautern looks for its second win against Vilseck.
Division IITop seeds stay in front: The top-seeded Aviano Saints and second-seeded Naples Wildcats each won big twice to secure their spots atop the division’s round-robin proceedings.
Aviano, unbeaten in the regular season, handled Bahrain 30-12 and Rota 46-6, while Naples beat Marymount 48-13 and Vicenza 48-26. The Saints’ victims, Bahrain and Rota, each salvaged 1-1 records through Wednesday’s action.
Aviano and Naples play head-to-head late Thursday in one of the eight more games scheduled for the second of three preliminary days. The teams with the top two records at the end of round-robin play will advance straight to the Division II title game Saturday.
Division IIIAFNORTH cruises to 2-0: The third-seeded Lions emerged as the class of their pool Wednesday with a 25-7 defeat of Baumholder and a 48-9 dismantling of Ankara.
While AFNORTH thrived, second-seeded Ansbach faltered in a disastrous start to the postseason. The Cougars, undefeated in divisional play in the regular season, absorbed a 28-21 loss to seventh-seeded Sigonella and a 20-15 setback to sixth seed Baumholder. Ansbach can reverse its fortunes in the five-team pool with its two games Thursday, including a head-to-head matchup with AFNORTH and a closer against bottom seed Ankara.
No. 1 seed Spangdahlem encountered no such difficulty in its pool Wednesday, blasting Alconbury 42-5 and Hohenfels 44-5 in near-identical walkovers.
broome.gregory@stripes.com Twitter: @broomestripes
Staff writer David Edge contributed to this report.
