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After a high school basketball season in which they were practically joined at the hip on the awards platform, it’s no surprise that Baumholder senior Katie Feterl and junior Tiffany McNeil ended their seasons side-by-side on the 2003 All-Europe first team.

Where else, after all, do the co-MVPs of Division III-South and European Division III tournament belong?

Feterl, winner of five All-Europe volleyball and basketball plaques, doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight with her first-time teammate. She exudes the team concept.

“I’m happy the team won,” she said. “I’m just happy to be with the team.”

And the team, two-time European Division III champions in two tries under coach Carter Hollenbeck, is just as happy that McNeil, a transfer from Fort Irwin, Calif., had the game to play at Feterl’s level.

“We would not have won the Europeans without either one of these talented student-athletes,” Hollenbeck said. “They were my go-to players.”

For a good reason.

McNeil, shooting 44 percent from the floor and 64 percent from the line, averaged 15.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. Feterl, 47 percent from the floor and 60 percent from the line, averaged seven points, nearly 10 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game.

“It was a lot different for me,” said McNeil. “I had to do more things than I did in California.”

Feterl was one of four repeat first-team selections, a total that included two of last year’s freshmen stars — Bitburg center Nadia Parker, who led the Lady Barons to their third straight Division II crown, and breathtakingly athletic SHAPE guard Charity Stowers. The third of those fabulous freshmen, Iceland’s Shondalyn Rogers, was voted to the second team this season, in spite of averaging almost 25 points, 12.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.6 steals per game.

Krissy Grosselin of Ramstein, a second teamer last year as a freshman, made the first team this season after leading the Lady Royals to a third straight European Division I championship.

Also repeating on the first team was Kaiserslautern guard Layla Hicks, a senior.

London Central’s Nicole Lassetter made the All-Europe first team for the second time as a junior. She was voted to the team as a freshman in Iceland two years ago, then played last year in the Far East.

Judging from the success the repeat choices’ teams enjoyed during the past season, playing with that All-Europe label on the jersey helps more than it hinders.

“It gives you confidence,” Feterl said, “but winning again reflects the hard work the team puts in.

“All-Europe is something to strive for, but not think about.”

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