Four boys teams and four girls teams escaped the churning waters of Division II pool play and stepped onto the firm ground of the DODDS-Europe tournament semifinals Thursday, finally bringing some order to the tournament's most wild and unpredictable divisional brackets.
Defending champion Black Forest Academy will take on Hohenfels and Bitburg will face AFNORTH in the girls semifinals. BFA also reached the boys elimination round; the Falcons will take on American Overseas School of Rome while Rota faces Ansbach.
Girls
Bitburg 46, Hohenfels 18: The second-seeded Barons completed an undefeated pool-play run by trouncing the Tigers and later beating Aviano 44-20.
Bitburg post Elise Rasmussen was unstoppable in the paint throughout, dominating the glass on both ends and displaying a soft touch around the hoop in a 19-point effort that kept the Baron lead steadily growing.
The title-minded Barons have spent the week "living in the bleachers" observing potential opponents, Rasmussen said, in between playing some of the best ball of their already-strong winter.
"We've been showing a lot more teamwork and effort here than I think we have all season," Rasmussen said. "It's going really well."
The Tigers, meanwhile, advanced to the semifinals anyway on the strength of a three-game tournament-opening winning streak that included a narrow 29-27 defeat of Rota early Thursday.
Black Forest Academy 40, AOSR 11: The defending European champions took care of business early, clinching a spot in the semifinals with a morning romp that was their only scheduled game of the day.
Emily Campbell scored 10 of her 11 points in the game's first quarter to stake BFA to a 19-3 lead. Teammate Katie Greathouse matched Campbell for game-high scoring honors.
AFNORTH 30, Ansbach 16: Wednesday's self-proclaimed "silent contender" roared its way into the elimination round on Thursday.
Eliska Volencova piled up 12 points, five rebounds and five steals, Grace Phillips went for eight points, seven steals and five blocks and Sinem Butun added eight points, five rebounds and three steals as AFNORTH recovered from Wednesday's 39-12 loss to BFA to advance.
Aviano 46, Bahrain 15: While other teams were battling for semifinal spots, Bahrain was happy just where it was.
Bahrain junior Melissa Atienza hit a three-pointer as time expired on the game's fourth quarter and the team's brief tournament run. While it didn't affect the outcome or stave off elimination, the buzzer-beater sent the purple-clad team into a euphoric postgame celebration.
Head coach Brant Tryon, who took over the program after serving as boys coach at Division I Kaiserslautern, has been thrilled with the team's efforts despite its on-court results.
"We've got a great group of girls," Tryon said. "Most of them are soccer players just wanting to represent the school on the basketball court."
Atienza scored nine of the team's 15 points, including all four of its first-quarter points and the game-ending triple, the only three-pointer of the game for either team.
Boys
Rota 51, American Overseas School of Rome 48, OT: Jashaun Garrison hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and D'Angelo Gallardo hit the game-winner late in the two-minute extra session to give the Admirals a dramatic win and a semifinal berth.
Gallardo said his shot "felt good" upon release, but that confidence was briefly shaken when the ball first drew iron.
"I panicked. I screamed in my head. I was scared," Gallardo said. "But it rattled in."
That nerve-wracking moment was made possible by Garrison's clutch shot, his fourth three-pointer of the game, at the end of a frantic fourth quarter. Gallardo felt equally good watching his teammate step into a season-defining shot.
"I trusted him," Gallardo said. "Every shot he takes, I trust him."
Risking elimination with a loss, Rota blitzed the Falcons from the opening tipoff and took a stunning 17-5 lead into the second quarter. AOSR, with its Friday ticket already punched, couldn't initially muster the same intensity.
But the Falcons, despite soaring above the Division II scrum for most of the tournament, responded well to the adversity. AOSR forced a 30-30 tie at the end of the third quarter and took a long-sought lead two minutes into the fourth on a putback by center Greg China. But the Falcons couldn't pull away, setting up the stirring final act that deservedly ended with both teams advancing to Friday semifinal games.
Ansbach 53, Aviano 36: The fifth-seeded Cougars completed the ouster of the bracket's top seed with a stunning comeback win.
Ansbach emerged from the intermission with a dominant third quarter that flipped a four-point halftime deficit to a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
Six different Cougar players scored in the decisive onslaught, and Yadiel Rodriguez scored eight of his 12 points in the final quarter to hold off the Saints.
The Cougars moved on to the semifinals despite Wednesday's tournament-opening 42-31 loss to Black Forest Academy.
Black Forest Academy 36, AFNORTH 29: At the end of a gritty pool-play experience that included a tough overtime loss to Aviano on Wednesday, Falcons coach Chris Greathouse knew his team had done well to simply survive it.
"Every team has been in the running. Every game has been a battle," Greathouse said. "It's been a lot of fun. We're just thrilled to get to move forward."
BFA extended its season Thursday with a suitably tough-nosed win over the solid Lions. Noah Greathouse scored eight of his 14 points in the first quarter to give the Falcons an early lead they'd feverishly guard for the rest of the game.
Twitter: @broomestripes
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