Star power prevailed Tuesday when the defending European Division I champion and unbeaten Wiesbaden girls basketball team handed Kaiserslautern its first defeat of the season, 42-31.

Wiesbaden’s All-Europe Thomas sisters, supplemented by 11 points from senior Kelly Colbert, did most of the damage for Wiesbaden, which will take a 11-0 overall and 7-0 Region II record into Friday’s rematch against K-town on the Lady Warriors’ home court.

According to Kaiserslautern coach Corey Sullivan, LeAndra Thomas scored a game-high 18 points. She also claimed five rebounds, pulled off five steals and blocked three K-town shots. LeAmber Thomas, who scored 10 points, tied Kaiserslautern’s Jada Perry for rebounding honors as each grabbed six.

But the big story was a Wiesbaden defense that held the Lady Raiders to just 12 second-half points.

“We picked up our defense,” Coach Jim Campbell said of the second-half lid his senior-laden team put over the K-town basket. “We gave up some outside shots in the first half, but didn’t allow anything outside after halftime.”

Campbell also credited his team’s headiness for the rally from a 19-16 halftime deficit.

“When you have seniors,” Campbell said by telephone Wednesday, “they never let anything bother them. We trailed by seven points in the third period, but they were calm and collected. They clamped down on defense.”

All-European Cariema Wood, with 11 points, led the scoring for Kaiserslautern (10-1, 6-1), which lost for the first time since the 2010 European Division I championship game, a 37-32 Wiesbaden victory. Her teammate Kara Helm had nine points and five rebounds.

Kaiserslautern boys winThe Kaiserslautern Red Raiders won their 10th straight game Tuesday night, turning back the Wiesbaden Warriors, 66-59, in a Region II game.Seniors Bernard Burwell and Thomas Russ combined for 50 points and 30 rebounds to propel the Red Raiders (10-1 overall) to a league-leading 7-0 mark in Region II. They are 4-1 this season against Division I teams. Burwell scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Russ accounted for 20 points and 14 rebounds, and freshman Andrew Stern added 12 points for K-town, which is scheduled to host Wiesbaden on Thursday night.Antonio Traywick (13 points), Daniel Harris (11) and Roscoe Johnson (10) hit double figures for Wiesbaden (8-3, 4-3). The Warriors, who led 18-13 after one period, also benefited from seven assists by Tevin Teal, six rebounds by Cletis Gilmore, and five blocks by Victor Strange, but couldn’t overcome K-town’s 17-6 second-quarter run.

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