KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – There was no shortage of players capable of filling up the basket Saturday, but it was defensive effort which facilitated a Red Raiders sweep of visiting Hohenfels.
For the second straight day, the Kaiserslautern girls pressed their way to a double-digit first-quarter lead and rolled to a 42-21 victory over the Hohenfels Lady Tigers. Kaiserslautern’s boys followed with a 57-44 conquest of the Tigers by holding their guests to just 17 second-half points.
Kaiserslautern girls 42, Hohenfels 21“We always play hard on defense,” said Medina Gregory, who stole the ball four times during the non-regional game’s opening eight minutes. “We use it to set up our offense.”
Saturday, much of that offense ran through Gregory, who was 6-of-9 from the floor for the day and 2-of-3 on 3-point attempts. She finished with 14 points. Amber Perryman added 12 points for Kaiserslautern, which got five blocks from Angela Powell and which will take a 4-1 overall and 2-0 Region II record into Tuesday night’s regional showdown against visiting archrival Ramstein.
Whether the Lady Raiders will gain any momentum from their four straight double-digit victories over Division II foes Bitburg and Hohenfels is a moot point, according to Gregory.
“We bring the same intensity to every game,” she said.
Tashia Golson of Hohenfels tied Gregory for game-scoring honors with 14 points, but eight of those came after intermission, when the Lady Tigers (2-3) trailed 31-13. Golson also tied for game-rebounding honors. She and K-town’s Shaute’ Gibbons each snared seven boards.
Kaiserslautern boys 57, Hohenfels 44An unlikely rebounder, in the person of 6-foot K-town sophomore Andrew Stern, sealed the deal for the Red Raiders’ boys.
After the Tigers closed to 31-27 at halftime, Stern pulled out all the stops to make sure the visitors would get as few shots per possession as possible over the game’s final 16 minutes. Working his way behind, between and in front of the bigger Tigers, Stern collected 10 second-half rebounds to help K-town limit the Tigers to just 17 points the rest of the way.
“He did a great job inside,” summarized Kaiserslautern coach Brant Tryon.
Stern credited his success to focusing on the job at hand.
“We’re small in size,” he explained, “so I’ve been concentrating on playing really aggressively on the boards, trying to get there quicker, reading the shot and getting position.”
K-town, which will next travel to Ramstein on Tuesday, had its halftime lead thanks to senior Derryk Scarvers, who sank five consecutive field-goal attempts in the second quarter. For the game, Scarvers was 8-of-14 from the floor, 2-of-2 on 3-point tries.
Devin Joseph, 2-of-3 on his trey attempts, added 16 points for K-town.
Xavier Davis scored 14 points and Devon Fluker 10, but Hohenfels, the defending European Division II champions, remained winless at 0-5. The Tigers next are scheduled to try for victory No. 1 Friday night at Region III foe Bamberg.
