Nina Neroni of the American Overseas School of Rome twists away with the ball during after rebounding against the Rota Admirals at the DODEA European Division II basketball championships Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. AOSR bested the Admirals 40-17. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – The crowds inside Southside Fitness Center were treated to a series of intriguing matchups late afternoon and early evening on Wednesday.

The first day of the Division II DODEA European Basketball Championships saw two boys teams get victories over title rivals, while the top seed in the girls tournament recovered without its coach to pass its biggest test during pool play.

In the end, three teams punched their tickets to the semifinals: Vicenza and American Overseas School of Rome on the girls side and Rota on the boys side.

Boys

Rota 36, Naples 35: The Admirals’ Anthony Ross wasn’t having a game to remember in Rota’s second game of the day against the Wildcats.

The 6-foot-3 junior guard hadn’t scored a single point, yet Ross had the ball in the closing seconds with the Admirals trailing by two. He sought a teammate to pass to when a shooting lane opened up on the left side of the arc.

Ross decided to let it fly, and he hit the shot, creating the final tally with 12 seconds remaining.

“I was off the whole game, so I wanted my teammates to score,” Ross said. “I had a rush, saw an opening and I just shot it.

“I was relieved. That’s a really good team.”

Rota (10-3) trailed for most of the game, which was shortened by Naples (9-6) in the first half. The Admirals didn’t leave their zone defense inside the arc, allowing the Wildcats to hold the ball near the halfway line for minutes at a time.

Naples took a 16-10 advantage into the break.

Naples’ Davion Bowie attempts takes aim for a two-pointer as Marymount’s Nicolo Arcangiolo attempts to block his shot during the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. Naples won 51-12. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Anthony DiMatteo of the American Overseas School of Rome goes for a basket against Black Forest Academy, while Joey Ebenroth attempts to block his layup during the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base. AOSR won 53-41. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza’s Joe Kelly battles Rota’s Tyler DeMeritt, left, and Brian Leiba during the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Marymount’s Jianshen Wu pushes ahead against Vicenza defenders at the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. During the first game of the event, Vicenza beat Marymount 38-26. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Aviano’s Deon Walker slaloms around Bahrain’s Petros Hilawe, left, and Ouael Fartas during the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Aviano’s Gabe Fabbro knocks Bahrain’s Jesse Bakke to the ground as he leaps for a layup at the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Black Forest Academy Falcon Asher Wendler tries for a rebound against Riley Smith, Nahom Dehenie and Gabriele Ghione of American Overseas School of Rome during the DODEA-Europe Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Naples' Patrick Fraim, right, ducks as Rota's Hampton Brasfield jumps by during pool play of the Division II DODEA Eueopean Basketball Championships on Wednesday at Southside Fitness Center on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Aviano 53, AOSR 49: The Saints dropped both of their regular-season contests with the Falcons, but on Wednesday, they got the last laugh.

The win put the Saints (13-3) in the driver’s seat to advance to a semifinal, needing just a win over Black Forest Academy to advance in the pool’s top spot.

“This is when it really counts,” Aviano coach Keith Adams said. “I told the boys before we came out, everybody’s at zero, and there’s a lot of teams with a chance to win the title. If we match their intensity, we’ll be fine.”

The Saints led by as many as 13 points with 5 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game, but that’s when the Falcons (8-6) came storming back. When junior guard Riley Smith stole the ball and completed a layup with 32 seconds remaining, AOSR cut the deficit to three points.

Parker Huber paced the Falcons with 17 points, and Gabriele Ghione added 16.

Adams said his team was careless with the ball, but that’s something his young team must learn through experience.

“This is a playoff game,” Adams said. “You can’t just willy-nilly throw the ball away; you can’t jack up 3s. You have to be able to get the ball inside, which we did, but we got away from that a little bit.”

One of Aviano’s senior leaders, Gabe Fabbro, took care of business from the charity stripe to seal the win. The forward connected on three free throws late and finished with 23 points.

“Getting fouls, we definitely hunted for those,” Fabbro said. “It’s terrifying. I’m not going to pretend like I wasn’t nervous, but they went in. That’s all that matters.”

Bahrain’s Dalisa Lewis outdribbles four defenders from the Rota Admirals during the DODEA-Europe Division II girls basketball tournament at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Feb. 15, 2023. Despite Bahrain’s efforts, Rota eeked out a narrow win 34-32 against the Falcons. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Marymount’s Ludovica Nati blocks a shot by Vicenza’s Laurel Gill during the DODEA-Europe Division II girls basketball tournament at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Feb. 15, 2023. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Bahrain Falcon Brooklyn Barrett goes for a layup during the third quarter against the Rota Admirals at the DODEA-Europe Division II girls basketball tournament at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Feb. 15, 2023. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Clara Clayton of the American Overseas School of Rome readies herself for a free throw against the Rota Admirals at the DODEA-Europe Division II girls basketball tournament Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Rota's Allie DeMeritt takes aim during a free throw at the DODEA European Division II basketball championships Feb. 15, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. DeMeritt's Admirals took a sharp loss against American Overseas School of Rome during the first round of the competition. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza's Addie Kropp throws up a runner in a pool-play game against Black Forest Academy during the Division II DODEA European Basketball Championships on Wednesday at Southside Fitness Center on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Marymount’s Giselle AlHamarneh tries to past through Aviano’s Alayna Williams, left, and Lanaia Burkes during pool play of the Division II DODEA European Basketball Championships on Wednesday at Southside Fitness Center on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Black Forest Academy’s Olivia Kruse looks up to the basket while teammate Danielle Cherry and Vicenza’s Mackenzie Blue, center right, and Maya Fitch watch during pool play of the Division II DODEA Basketball Championships on Wednesday at Southside Fitness Center on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Naples' JuJu Martinez goes up for layup while Bahrain's Brooklyn Barrett, center left, and Dalisa Lewis defend during pool play of the Division II DODEA European Basketball Championships at the Southside Fitness Center on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Girls

Vicenza 42, Black Forest Academy 38: The Cougars found themselves down 12 points in the second half and without their head coach during their second pool-play game.

Greg DeJardin picked up his second technical foul midway through the third, and Vicenza had to claw its way back.

“Every break, we said, ‘For DJ,’ which is Mr. DeJardin,” Vicenza point guard Addie Kropp said. “It motivated us more because we knew we had to get it done. We knew we couldn’t rely on our coach or assistants. It was on us.”

Kropp took that to heart in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-6 junior scored nine of her team-high 22 points in the fourth, including the 3-pointer that tied the game at 36-36 and a bucket at the 3:30 mark that gave the Cougars their first lead since the first quarter.

She sealed the victory with a free throw with 8.3 seconds remaining.

“Once we started hitting more baskets, once we started getting more steals, we definitely got more into it,” Kropp said. “We definitely got a pep in our step, and we handled it well, finished really well.”

The Cougars would hold a tie-breaker over BFA (1-1) and Marymount (1-1) even if they lost Thursday to Aviano (0-2).

AOSR 25, Naples 11: The Falcons entered the tournament with a losing record overall. But a 5-5 divisional record included a split with the higher-seeded Wildcats.

Wednesday’s third meeting was all AOSR and as a result, the Falcons clinched a spot in the semifinals after defeating both the Wildcats (1-1 in tournament play) and Rota (1-1). AOSR holds a tiebreaker over both those schools even if it loses to Bahrain on Thursday.