Stuttgart's Eve Henry shoots against Vilseck's Willa Greenwood in the girls Division I final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Stuttgart took the title with a 43-35 win over the Falcons. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – The Stuttgart and Vilseck girls basketball teams have seen a lot of each other in the past two weeks.
So much so that Stuttgart coach Nathan Garrett wanted to give the Falcons a bit of a surprise Saturday in the title game of the DODEA-Europe Division I championship game.
Whether it was a new defensive twist, the experience the Panthers carried from winning the championship a year ago or some combination of factors, the result was yet another title for the most successful D-I girls program in Europe the past decade.
Hannah Holmes scored 15 points – all in the first half – and the Panthers held off the upstart Falcons 43-35. It was the fourth meeting between the two teams in two weeks.
“They are a great team,” Garrett said of Vilseck, which hadn’t made a finals appearance in more than a decade. He thought so highly of them that as the coach of the top seed, he elected to have Vilseck in the same pool as his Panthers “so we wouldn’t have to play them in the semifinals.”
That just meant the Panthers were going to ratchet up their defense even more Saturday, though.
Stuttgart's Serenity Sampson drives to the basket against Vilseck's Mayela Lokeni in the girls Division I final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Stuttgart took the title with a 43-35 win over the Falcons. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Giselle Villareal goes to the basket in the girls Division I final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Stuttgart took the title with a 43-35 win over the Falcons. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart’s Hannah Holmes and Vilseck’s Jayslin Santellano fight for a loose ball in the girls Division I final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Stuttgart took the title with a 43-35 win over the Falcons. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Panthers and Falcons try to pull down a rebound in the girls Division I final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Stuttgart took the title with a 43-35 win over Vilseck. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The Stuttgart Panthers celebrate after beating Vilseck43-35 in the girls Division I final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
“That’s our foundation,” said Holmes, a junior who was on last year’s title team – the swan song of longtime coach Robin Hess. Garrett served as a junior varsity coach under Hess before COVID and spent the last several years on the boys staff.
He said he picked up strategies from both programs and has tried to introduce them to the team. One of those made its debut Saturday night. A trap designed to shift the flow of the Falcons’ offense a bit.
Vilseck coach Darci Neville said nerves also might have played a role in her team’s slow start as Stuttgart raced out to a 11-3 lead with 2 minutes, 24 seconds to play in the opening quarter on a three-point shot from Holmes.
“It was their first time on this stage,” Neville said. “But they kept fighting back.”
Stuttgart led 27-13 at halftime, but an 8-2 Vilseck run in the third quarter closed the gap to eight points before freshman Eve Henry stole the ball, laid it in the basket and converted a free throw to give the Panthers a larger cushion.
That momentum carried over to the final quarter, when Stuttgart’s Addison Jennings scored two quick baskets and the Falcons managed only one basket over the first six minutes of the period.
Vilseck clawed back again but couldn’t get closer than a handful of points before the buzzer sounded.
Holmes probably could have scored more points after catching the ball numerous times close to the basket while moving down from the high post. But she dished the ball off to teammates several times instead.
“I think passing up a good shot for a better shot is something I should just do every time,” she said with a shrug.
It’s that attitude, Garrett said, that made the Panthers a champion.
Serenity Sampson and Jennings added eight points each for the Panthers. Giselle Villarreal led Vilseck with 16 points.
Neville told her team after the game they had done all she had asked of them.
“They can hold their heads up,” she said. “Nobody expected Vilseck to come out this year and do this. And all the credit goes to their effort and hard work.”
