WIESBADEN, Germany – Jordan Thibodeaux stood beaming in front of the crowd at the Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center on Clay Kaserne on Saturday holding three plaques.

The first was for the Wiesbaden Warriors claiming the Division I DODEA European title with a 58-54 victory over Ramstein. The second was for earning all-tournament honors, and the third and final one was for being named the tournament MVP.

Not a bad haul for his 18th birthday on Saturday.

“Definitely first,” Thibodeaux said of where this birthday ranks. “We came and we took care of business, and I was blessed to win the most outstanding player in DODEA.”

The victory was cathartic for many involved in the Wiesbaden program.

Thibodeaux had been with the team his entire high school career but couldn’t sniff the championship before this year. Coach David Brown had lost two finals (2014, 2017) in what he described as heartbreaking fashion.

Then, Jacob and Joel Idowu fell just short in Division III a year ago when Hohenfels lost to Spangdahlem on the very same court.

“The feeling’s surreal,” Jacob Idowu said of winning the title this season. “I came in September, I didn’t know what the end result would be, but it didn’t take me long to know this team was special. Hard work pays off, for sure.”

The title also marked the program’s first since 1999 under then-coach Lorenzo Brown (no relation to the current coach Brown).

None of the Warriors (18-0) were born when that happened, which emphasized just how historic the feat they accomplished was.

“It hit me when we looked at that banner one last time before we drove over to this gym,” Thibodeaux said. “I was like, ‘I can’t let that happen again. We got to change something here.’”

Thibodeaux himself made sure of that.

The 5-foot-10 senior dropped 13 points in the opening quarter, including Wiesbaden’s first six points. Floaters, pull-up jump shots, drives and the free-throw line were all in the arsenal from the opening whistle, and that helped the Warriors jump out to a double-digit lead 6 minutes, 15 seconds in that they maintained for much of the game.

Thibodeaux finished with a game-high 28 points.

“Having me, Jordan and Joel, the three threats, you don’t know which one is going to go off,” Jacob Idowu said. “So, when Jordan went off, we like to feed the hot hand. He went to work.”

While the Idowu brothers contributed offensively with 13 for Jacob and 10 for Joel, the duo also got into foul trouble. They eventually fouled out in the final 19.7 seconds of the game.

But to keep them available for as long as possible, Brown dipped into his bench early and often, and they repaid their coach in key moments.

One came on the opening possession of the fourth period when sophomore Ben Cashen received a pass from junior Jake Koschnik and drained a three-pointer. That shot helped stave off a Ramstein comeback for a few minutes by extending the lead to double digits once more at 43-32.

“From the very beginning, we chose 10, and those 10 had roles to play,” Brown said. “When it was time for them to be called, they all stepped up.”

The Royals (13-4), too, had help from their bench in the form of Tyrell Edwards. The 6-foot-1 senior provided a spark to keep Ramstein afloat after the early 13-2 deficit.

Edwards had a team-high 14 points, including the Royals’ first four points of the game and another in the second quarter.

“That’s playoff Tyrell,” Ramstein coach Brendan Rouse said. “He’s like that every season.

“He’s had a hard time this season because of injuries, but man, he was ready for the playoffs, just like we expected him to be.”

Still, the Warriors looked like they were cruising heading into the final minute of the game, leading 56-41.

Yet the wheels almost came completely off in the most catastrophic way.

Ramstein scored 13 of the game’s next 14 points.

Kelan Vaughn scored a putback off a miss at the charity stripe from teammate Michael Gonzales, who had been fouled while scoring a bucket with 5.4 seconds left. And it was a one-possession ballgame at 57-54.

Thibodeaux was fouled after the inbound pass, and he split the pair to seal the victory.

Rouse pointed to missed freebies as a major reason for the loss. The Royals went to the line 17 times and made just seven, all of which came in the final quarter.

Wiesbaden, meanwhile, went 18 of 22 on free throws, not missing a single one until 19.7 seconds left in the game.

“We fight to the end every year,” Rouse said. “It just came down to free throws again.

“I can’t be any more proud of them boys. It just didn’t work out for us.”

Brown, meanwhile, expressed his happiness at picking up his first title in charge of the program.

With three senior starters in Thibodeaux, Jacob Idowu and Zion Thompson and then one of the first substitutes in Jonah Harvey gone, he anticipates he has much work on his hands.

And that’s the way he’s going to celebrate.

“This is another season in the books,” Brown said. “I’m already thinking about next year.”

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