Joel Idowu is on his way down after slamming the ball through the net in Wiesbaden’s victory over Lakenheath on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at RAF Lakenheath, England. Idowu scored a game-high 19 points. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
RAF LAKENHEATH, England – DODEA-Europe’s season-ending basketball championships are just a few weeks away and Lakenheath’s teams got a taste of what they’ll be facing Saturday.
Saturday’s girls/boys doubleheader against Wiesbaden left a bitter flavor in the Lancers’ mouths, though.
“Effort was not given all around,” Lakenheath boys assistant coach Eric Riley said. “The team is much better than what they were putting out there.”
It’s not like the Warriors are exactly slouches, though.
They stayed unbeaten on the season with a 55-14 victory. The game was officially over at halftime due to the organization’s 39-point mercy rule.
The Warriors’ defense stymied the Lancers all game. And Wiesbaden dominated play near the basket, thanks to the strong play of Wiesbaden brothers Joel and Jacob Idowu, who combined for 32 points.
“Every time we play, we just want to get better,” Wiesbaden coach David Brown said. “We try not to play to the score; we play to the standard.”
Jaylon Gatewood is at the free throw line during Lakenheath’s game with Wiesbaden on Jan. 25, 2025 at RAF Lakenheath, England. He made both free throws. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden’s Katie Shea gets set to take a free throw Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in the Warriors’ victory over Lakenheath in England. Shea finished with a game-high 18 points. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Solymar Brown scored 15 points for Lakenheath in a loss to Wiesbaden on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 at RAF Lakenheath, England. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath point guard Gideon Toure said his team hopes for a better showing if it sees Wiesbaden again on the Warriors’ home court in the championships.
“We have the team to get the wins,” Toure said. “Heads started hanging and the other team took advantage of that.”
Wiesbaden was up 20-7 after a quarter and never looked back.
The games completed the Lancers’ Division I regular-season schedule. They head to Rota, Spain, next weekend and then finish the regular season Feb. 7-8 with a home-and-away series against Alconbury before beginning tournament play. The Warriors have only single games left against Kaiserslautern and Ramstein the next two weekends.
Girls
Wiesbaden 58, Lakenheath 25: Katie Shea scored a game-high 18 points while Natalia Bergdorf put 13 on the board to give the visitors the victory.
The Warriors, coming off a sweep of SHAPE the prior weekend, will likely hold the No. 5 seed in the seven-team field at the championships. The Lancers, who got 15 points from Solymar Brown, will hold the sixth seed.
