Kaiserslautern's Breona Drew gets off a shot despite the defense of Vilseck's Sharmil Whyatt, left, and Mariah Morris. Kaiserslautern beat Vilseck in a hard-fought Division I game, 23-22. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany - Thursday wasn’t a good day to be a top-seeded girls team in the 2012 DODDS-Europe basketball tournament.
Both the Division-I and D-III top-seeded girls teams were toppled, but each still retain their title hopes. Division II top seed SHAPE avoided the top-seed curse by receiving a bye and not playing.
The defending D-I champions and top-seed Patch fell 30-29 to Kaiserslautern. The Panthers had come into their matinee matchup against Kaiserslautern feeling pretty good, after knocking off an overwhelmed International School of Brussels, 38-15, earlier in the day.
Fourth-seeded Kaiserslautern came into the game still riding an emotional high after its 23-22 morning victory over Vilseck. Lady Raiders freshman Amber Perryman dished the ball to junior Breona Drew, who hit a shot before the buzzer to topple last year’s runners up.
In their follow-up performance, Kaiserslautern knew it had to find a way to contain senior Janelle Loney, Stars and Stripes’ 2011 player of the year, who was coming off a 19-point, nine-rebound and four-steal effort against ISB.
The Lady Raiders worked a box-and-one defense hoping to contain Loney. Their strategy worked, as the Patch superstar was held to just four points. It may have been more than just the Lady Raiders defense messing with Loney’s game, though. For most of the final minutes she was clutching at her right elbow and grimacing in pain after falling hard to the court.
With Loney contained, the Panthers relied on Johanna Quinn and Beca Hes to keep them in the game. Patch was tied at halftime, after trailing early. A three-pointer by Hes with 2:10 left on the clock left the Lady Panthers up, 29-28.
Kaiserslautern junior Jada Perry had an answer and was able to sink a basket with 25 seconds left, leaving her team up, 30-29.
The score would stay that way as Loney missed the front end of a one-and-one, which Kaiserslautern rebounded. With time running out, Loney narrowly missed a desperation half-court shot.
“We play every game like it’s our last,” said Perry, describing her team’s mindset going into the Patch game. After a 2-0 start in the tournament, the Lady Raiders should have at least two more games left.
Following the game, a tearful Loney said folks shouldn’t count out Patch yet.
“We’re going to come together tomorrow as a team, we shouldn’t have lost that game,” said Loney, adding she thought her elbow would be ready for game time Friday. But she admitted a couple of hours later that it still hurt.
In other D-I action, second-seeded Ramstein was able to hold off scrappy Lakenheath and Heidelberg squads, to be the other D-I girls team to finish their first day at 2-0.
Heidelberg, Vilseck and Wiesbaden enter Friday’s play at 1-1 and still alive for the championship.
For Vilseck, rebounding after the Kaiserslautern loss was crucial. They were able to, outdistancing themselves from ISB in the second half and winning 35-24.
“Once we lost, it’s like a weight was put on our shoulders,” said Lady Falcons senior Deraj McClinton. “We’re slow starters, once we spark that fire, it’s hard stopping us.”
Vilseck coach Jim Hall didn’t want to hear excuses about slow starts. Frustrated with his squad’s shooting from the free throw line, he had his girls taking practice shots at halftime of the ISB game, instead of talking with them at the bench.
In the D-III girls tournament, the Rota Lady Admirals got surprised by the fourth-seeded Bamberg Lady Barons, falling 31-14. Rota’s hopes are still alive, though, because they haven’t reached single elimination yet. That happens Friday, when Rota takes on third-seeded Brussels in one semifinal. Second-seed Sigonella, which fell to Brussels 27-21 on Thursday, takes on Bamberg in the other.
D-II girls teams faced a win-or-get-out scenario Thursday as single elimination games began. The biggest upset on Thursday was Aviano, which sent American Overseas School of Rome packing with a 28-20 win. Baumholder claimed the distinction of the lowest seed – 13 – to advance to Friday action with a 22-16 victory over the ninth-seeded Black Forest Academy. Naples takes on Aviano, AFNORTH plays Schweinfurt, Ansbach meets Hohenfels and top-seeded SHAPE plays Baumholder with the winners advancing to the semifinals later in the day. Echoing the theme for the day, defending champion Vicenza was eliminated before the quarterfinals.