SPANGDAHLEM, Germany – The Spangdahlem boys basketball team had thought it turned heads with a sweep of Wiesbaden last weekend.

Then the Sentinels saw Hohenfels’ victory over previously undefeated Vilseck, a Division I opponent that swept Spangdahlem’s previous opponent. It added a sense of urgency heading into Friday evening’s contest at Spangdahlem High School for the Sentinels.

“We watched the film against Vilseck, and Vilseck is a really tough team to beat,” Spangdahlem guard Cameron Lewis said. “Hearing that Hohenfels beat Vilseck, it was hard to hear.”

The Sentinels made another splash by the final whistle. They recovered from a 15-point first-quarter deficit and pulled away late in a 65-59 win.

The two squads sat atop the Division III standings heading into the evening, with Spangdahlem (9-0, 7-0) just ahead of Hohenfels (7-2, 4-1).

It was a win the Sentinels had to earn. They trailed for most of the game, taking their first lead off a Makario Drummond steal and layup with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the game to make it 56-55.

“It was a battle for 32 minutes,” Spangdahlem coach Mark Jackson said. “Every time they punched, we punched little by little back to them and try to crawl and scratch back in.”

The home team did that by increasing the defensive pressure.

The Sentinels deployed a full-court trap in the second half, and it worked in spades. They forced 17 Hohenfels turnovers, 14 of which were Spangdahlem steals. Those thefts turned into 13 points on the other end, including seven in the fourth frame.

The turnovers also sparked a 20-6 Spangdahlem run over the final 5:06 of the game.

“I was telling them we have to turn the intensity up,” Jackson said. “We have to get on-ball defense (going). We got to put pressure on them.”

The Sentinels also started attacking the bucket, putting the Tigers into serious foul trouble – especially their big three of Theo Reyes and Jacob and Joel Idowu.

Perhaps the biggest example was Lewis. The sophomore point guard dropped 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, going 7-of-7 from the charity stripe following drives to the hoop.

“I knew we couldn’t afford to take stupid shots, so I had to attack the basket,” Lewis said. “We got them out of their game, and I knew it was key to win.”

To go with Lewis’ output, senior Robert Legget had 19 points and eight rebounds, while Drummond scored all eight of his points in the second half.

Hohenfels coach Michael Weston said his team struggled with the foul issues, especially for Jacob Idowu. The forward played just 30 seconds of the third period after picking up his fourth foul early.

Still, the Tigers’ three main threats did their damage, scoring all but two of the team’s points. Ryes and Joel Idowu each had 20 points, while Jacob Idowu chipped in with 17.

Joel Idowu posted a double-double with 18 boards.

“We ran into a lot of early foul trouble,” Weston said. “(Jacob Idowu) had four fouls in the third quarter, so we had to take him out. I think it cost us a little bit in the end.”

Girls

Hohenfels 44, Spangdahlem 36: The Tigers’ record heading into Friday evening’s game against the Sentinels was a bit misreading.

Hohenfels was two games under .500 in both overall and league play, but its losses came by an average of 7.8 points. That included a stretch of three defeats to the top two teams in the division – Sigonella and AFNORTH – by a combined 22 points.

The Tigers were looking to get over that hump, and they did so against Spangdahlem.

“We were able to beat Vilseck, and I was really hoping that we could keep that momentum and get a Division III win,” Hohenfels guard Malea Jobity said. “Those are the ones that count for the Euros.”

The game was tight throughout with 12 lead changes and five ties. The largest advantage for either team was just eight points.

The Tigers (4-5, 2-3) had to come from behind late to secure the victory. Spangdahlem (5-4, 5-2) took a 36-32 lead at the 6:04 mark in the fourth for almost 3 minutes before Hohenfels rattled off the game’s final 12 points.

“It’s a really great win,” Hohenfels coach Monique Jones said. “It feels great to come to somebody else’s house to play a team the caliber of a team like Spangdahlem.”

A suffocating defense sparked that late run – a theme throughout the game. The Tigers forced the Sentinels to commit 46 turnovers in the game. Fourteen of them came in the fourth quarter.

Hohenfels deployed a full-court man press. The Tigers were relentless all over the court, harassing ballhandlers and jumping passing lanes, recording 38 steals. Twins Jalissa and Malea Jobity corralled 14 and eight thefts in the game.

Malea led Hohenfels with 17 points, while Jalissa contributed 15.

“We always work hard during practice with our running,” said Malea, who mentioned she and her sister use their conditioning from cross country and track to help on defense. “For me and my twin Jalissa … running up and down playing defense is something that we can do because we have speed.”

Spangdahlem coach Chris Howard said his team rued missing high-percentage shots early. He also pointed out the Sentinels had a pair of “unnecessary” turnovers that started Hohenfels’ late run.

Gabrielle Schmidt paced Spangdahlem with 15 points and nine rebounds.

“They understood in the first half, we must have missed six or seven layups,” Howard said “We had easy shots. When we came out (of halftime), we changed from a 1-3-1 defense to a man defense, and we got the steals an went down to put points on the board.

“When you get to the end of the fourth quarter and we make those turnovers instead of doing what we did in the third quarter, that was tough.”

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