The Baumholder bench celebrates a basket that turned into a three-point play in the waning moments of the game as the Buccaneers beat Alconbury in OT 49-43 to take the boys Division III title at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

WIESBADEN, Germany – The Baumholder boys basketball dynasty is no longer on pause.

The Buccaneers returned to the top of the small-schools division Saturday afternoon at the Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center on Clay Kaserne. After trailing most of the Division III final of the 2025 DODEA European basketball championships against Alconbury, they came back with a thrilling 49-44 overtime victory.

That marks six European crowns in seven seasons. Not that Baumholder coach Dewayne Piggé is taking this run for granted.

In fact, the Dragons gave them one of their most difficult tests in a final since this domination began.

“Every year is hard,” Piggé said. “Having six championships, it’s not easy to get there. You’ve got to grind every year.”

The players themselves said losing the consecutive title stretch fueled them this year.

“It feels good, coming back senior year after missing one last year that we should have won,” said Leo Kirkland, the Division III tournament MVP.

The Buccaneers (13-6) went down by as many as nine within the first 2 minutes, 14 seconds of the game and struggled to make it a one-possession game multiple times before Alconbury (14-4) pushed out the advantage again.

In the fourth quarter, though, Baumholder found its rhythm offensively, specifically through Artez Williams. The sophomore had settled for three-pointers early in the game, but in the final frame of regulation, he drove more to the basket and took more mid-range jumpers.

Williams went on a 6-0 run himself over a 2:40 span midway through the fourth to tie the game at 32.

Yet it took until 55.2 seconds were left in regulation for the Buccaneers to take their first lead on a pair of Williams free throws.

“I felt like since my shot wasn’t falling, I had to take it to the basket,” said Williams, who dropped 13 of his game-high 18 points in the fourth and overtime. “Higher percentage shots were most likely going to fall.”

Baumholder controlled the extra frame, taking the lead for good at the 2:26 mark when Williams passed the ball to Jaylon Bilbrew (15 points) underneath.

Then, the Buccaneers iced the game from the charity stripe. They shot 7-of-9 from the line over the final 1:13, and even one of the misses led to another trip to the line when Kirkland rebounded Gregory Makubuya’s attempt with 48 seconds remaining.

Williams was sent to the line then, making it a two-possession game at 45-41.

“I missed a couple of mine early on in the game, and I know later on in the game, I got to hit those,” said Kirkland, who sank a pair in overtime. “So, when I went to the free-throw line again, I was thinking, ‘Got to get this win, got to hit these shots.’”

Baumholder's Leo Kirkland goes in for a basket against Alconbury's Taye Vickerstaff in the boys Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Baumholder beat Alconbury in overtime 49-43, ti take the division crown. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Baumholder's Jaylon Bilbrew and Alconbury's Aaron Dudley fight for a rebound in the boys Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Baumholder beat Alconbury in overtime 49-43, ti take the division crown. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Baumholder's Sir Kirkland goes to the basket over Alconbury's Aaron Dudley in the boys Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Baumholder beat Alconbury in overtime 49-43, ti take the division crown. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Alconbury's Vincent Sheehan drives towards the basket against Baumholder's Leo Kirkland in the boys Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Baumholder beat Alconbury in overtime 49-43, ti take the division crown. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Alconbury’s Leo Politis shoots against Baumholder Jaylon Bilbrew in the boys Division III final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. Baumholder beat Alconbury in overtime 49-43, ti take the division crown. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Kirkland kept the Buccaneers afloat when Alconbury’s sharpshooting seemed to spell a route early.

The Dragons opened the game shooting 4 of 5 from the field, including 3 of 4 from distance. Vincent Sheehan proved to be a menace, connecting on his first two three-pointers and assisting on another for teammate Kai Vickerstaff.

Piggé took the advice of his assistant Clifton Mayo, who suggested switching to a man defense. It worked, as Alconbury shot 34.1% the rest of the way.

Vincent Sheehan totaled 17 points in the game but didn’t hit another trey until one fell just as the buzzer sounded.

“I really wasn’t worried because I trusted my guys,” Piggé said. “We knew Alconbury was a good shooting team. (Vincent and Anthony Sheehan), those guys can shoot lights out. We just knew we had to smother them, and that’s the adjustment we needed to make.”

Leo Politis had 11 points, and Aaron Dudley posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Alconbury coach Ronnie Mckinzie didn’t let the heartbreaking loss sour what was a banner year for the program. The Dragons more than tripled their win total from the 2023-2024 campaign and they came the closest they ever had to winning an elusive European title.

The Dragons will lose a good chunk of the team via graduation with Anthony Sheehan, Politis, Dudley and Taye Vickerstaff, the latter three of whom were starters. Mckinzie also mentioned others will be leaving at the end of the year.

Still, the Alconbury coach said this year’s squad laid the foundation for the future.

“Everybody counted out this team out at the beginning of the season,” Mckinzie said. “Last with four wins overall to going to 11-3 in the regular season and to the finals, that’s beyond special for this team.”