WIESBADEN, Germany – Wiesbaden boys basketball coach David Brown admitted he didn’t know what to expect from his players after two weeks off and just a couple of practices before Vicenza came to town Friday evening.

So, he turned to his team’s thermostat, Jacob Idowu, to gauge his squad.

The senior shooting guard showed the Warriors were up to the task against one of the top teams in Division II. Idowu dropped 14 of his 23 points in the first half to help Wiesbaden jump out early during a 76-58 victory over the Cougars at Wiesbaden High School.

“He sets the temperature of the team,” Brown said of Idowu. “When he’s aggressive, when he’s like that, it’s infectious.”

The Warriors (6-0) needed a little time to get going, trailing Vicenza (4-1) by three midway through the first quarter.

A three-pointer by Idowu, assisted by younger brother Joel, at the 4-minute, 15-second mark tied it at 7-7. Wiesbaden finished the frame on a 12-0 run.

The Warriors, and especially the elder Idowu brother, really turned it up a gear in the second quarter. Jacob Idowu scored 11 points for more than half his team’s offensive output (20), keeping the Cougars at a double-digit deficit.

Idowu scored in various ways – backdoor cuts, jumpers, layups and even a dunk on the fast break.

Taking a 36-24 lead into halftime made the team’s slow start seem like a thing of the past.

“It took us a quarter or two to get in the flow, but I feel like when we get into the flow … we just start hitting shots, doing what we do best, just playing basketball,” Idowu said.

Others stepped up to complement Idowu’s performance.

Senior small forward Zion Thompson scored a pair of buckets early, while freshman guard Carter Edwards chipped in with all six of his points in the first half.

Brown dug into his bench often to bring on players like Edwards, junior center Jake Koschnik, senior guard Jonah Harvey and junior power forward Isaac Mason. The Wiesbaden coach said they earned those minutes, and their teammate said he’s noticed their efforts.

“We got hoopers on our team,” Idowu said. “When they start doing what they do, that’s nothing new to me. I see that all the time.”

Their performances allowed another of Wiesbaden’s big three – Jordan Thibodeaux – time to find his shooting boots.

The senior point guard popped off for 20 of his game-high 29 points in the second half. He seemed to find his rhythm with a shot from beyond the arc right before the break and continued it over the final 16 minutes, draining three more three-pointers.

The point guard had his hand in the offense early despite not scoring as much. Thibodeaux had five assists in the first half, with three of them coming on Idowu buckets.

“Him feeling out where the game was, and helping his teammates, really playing a true point guard, making sure everybody else’s job is easier … I think he really took that to heart and executed that today,” Brown said.

The Warriors needed Thibodeaux’s offensive output in the second half, as the Cougars came roaring back.

Trailing by 10 points at the 2:31 mark in the third period, Vicenza produced a 9-2 run over 1:03 to make it 47-44. That’s when Thibodeaux scored four straight points to make it a three-possession game again.

The Cougars never got closer.

Jace Herron (19 points) and Ben Harlow (18) paced Vicenza. Simon Gilbert added another 10.

“I thought our kids handled the adversity well,” Vicenza coach Jesse Woods said. “They stayed together. When the score exploded in the end, they ran out of gas.

“It’s early. We’re still getting sharp. I like where we’re at.”

Girls

Wiesbaden 49, Vicenza 40: While every DODEA coach faced the same problem of having two weeks off for winter break, Wiesbaden coach Kristin Kachmar was thrown an added curveball.

The Warriors lost Angelica Shea, who figured to be an important piece to the offense, to an injury, and they needed others to fill the void.

During Friday’s game against Vicenza at Wiesbaden High School, the verdict was mixed. The Warriors did enough to hold off a pesky Cougar squad, but it wasn’t without hiccups.

“Two weeks off, I think that it takes a minute for everybody to get adjusted and to get back into the swing of things,” Kachmar said. “We’ve got some new girls that need to step up in different roles that they’re not used to.

“Yes, there were many times where I was frustrated as a coach, but I saw sparks of light.”

Two of those sparks happened right before halftime and early in the third period.

Down by four, Wiesbaden (3-3) scored the final eight points over a 2:15 span, starting with a Katie Shea (10 points) runner and ending with a buzzer beater by Kariyah Housey (12 points).

Then, after Vicenza (1-4) tied it a minute into the third with a drive by Jenina Smith, the Warriors rattled off a 16-0 run to pull away for good.

Housey herself sparked that run with the first basket off a Kaitlynn Boman pass. Housey had eight points during the quarter.

“Once we start rolling, you really notice it,” Housey said. “Once we started to hit that click and understanding in the third quarter … it was really good.”

Wiesbaden also enjoyed a major advantage on the glass. The Warriors amassed 56 rebounds, including 26 offensive boards, compared to Vicenza’s 20. Senior Natalia Bergdorf corralled 17 herself, with 11 of them coming on offense.

Although Kachmar said she wished the Warriors had made some of the bunnies that led to the high number of offensive rebounds, she couldn’t fault the team’s effort crashing the boards.

“Any time you outrebound an opponent, that gives you an advantage,” Kachmar said. “Was I expecting it? No. Am I pleased with the fact that’s what happened? Yes.”

Vicenza coach John Kohut, meanwhile, couldn’t have been happier with the performance.

The Cougars have nine freshmen on the squad and not a lot of height. Noticing this disadvantage, Kohut challenged his players to turn over Wiesbaden as much as possible and keep the ball away from the hoop.

And Vicenza did that. The Cougars forced 34 Warrior turnovers with 21 of them coming on steals. Smith (game-high 16 points) had eight of them, while Yareli Telles contributed five.

Along with Smith, one of the team’s few returners, Trishauna Lewis, hit double figures with 15 points.

“I loved the heart, the hustle, the harassment,” Kohut said. “The key this weekend is go out there and harass the ball. Steal, put your hands on it, do some deflections, and for the most part, we got a lot of balls.”

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