Jun Jun Gallardo of Naples sails to the basket in the Division II final against AFNORTH. Gallardo scored 15 points in the Wildcats' 68-46 win. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Jun Jun Gallardo of Naples sails to the basket in the Division II final against AFNORTH. Gallardo scored 15 points in the Wildcats' 68-46 win. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Jun Jun Gallardo of Naples tries to reach in a steal the ball from AFNORTH's Jamil Pollock in the Division II final. Naples beat the Lions 68-46 to take the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Nuri Karaca scores against Naples in the Division II title game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships. Karaca and his Lions fell to the Wildcats 68-46. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Jamil Pollock tries to draw the charge on Nigel Alexander of Naples in the Division II title game at the DOODS-Europe basketball championships. No whistle was blown and Alexander scored. Naples took the title with a 68-46 win. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Malik Jordan of Naples drives past AFNORTH's Jamil Pollock in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe basketball finals. Jordan had 20 points for his team as it downed AFNORTH 68-46. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The Naples fans count down the clock as the starters and coach Craig Lord watch the final second of the Division II title game at the DODDS-Europe basketball championships. Naples defeated AFNORTH 68-46 to take the division crown. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – The Naples Wildcats drained all the suspense out of Saturday’s boys’ European Division II championship game by draining nine-of-18 three-point tries en route to a 68-46 victory over the top-seeded AFNORTH Lions.
“Every practice, Coach (Craig Lord) has us doing these stupid shooting drills,” said tourney MVP Jun Jun Gallardo, who canned three of his five long-ball tries, “but I guess it paid off today.”
Gallardo, a senior who finished with 13 points, hit two of his treys during a decisive second period which saw Naples post a 23-8 run. His teammate Malik Jordan, who got the three-ball barrage started with two-of-four over the game’s first eight minutes, finished the game four-of-eight from behind the arc.
“We’re all good shooters,” observed Jordan, a sophomore who scored a game-high 20 points. “We work hard at it.”
Don’t get the idea, though, that Naples is content to tiptoe around the edge of the defense. All-tourney center Nigel Alexander, a senior who scored 15 points, and sophomore Isaiah Wesby, who tallied 13 points, were more than ready to mix it up inside, either taking the ball to the hoop or battling for the rebound. Alexander grabbed 11 rebounds, four of them off the offensive glass.
Joined by all-tournament choice Edward Allen, a senior who snared six rebounds before fouling out with 4 minutes, 58 seconds to play, Alexander and Wesby negated the inside play of AFNORTH’s Jake Schmidt and Westin McKinney, a duo which had controlled things down low in AFNORTH’s earlier tournament outings.
Schmidt scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds; McKinney, however, was limited to three points and five rebounds.
Turkish star Nuri Karaca, a junior, topped AFNORTH with 17 points, most of them on acrobatic drives to the rack. The total was well below the sort of numbers Karaca usually put up.
“We were just well-prepared for this game,” Gallardo said. “Coach has been preparing us for this game all year.”
The victory capped a year-long effort by Naples to redeem last year’s disappointment in this event. Naples, which previously had won a European title in 2004, came into the 2011 event top-seeded after losing just one game all season, but fell to Bamberg in the semifinals.
“After the season, we got together,” Gallardo said. “We worked together every day to be sure that wouldn’t happen again.”
