Marymount's Patrick Gianni eyes the basket as he scores in the boys Division II final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. The Cougars beat the Royals 57-39 to take th division title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

WIESBADEN, Germany – The Vicenza Wildcats had grown accustomed to waltzing past Division II opposition the past two years.

All thoughts of a second consecutive extravagant coronation quickly evaporated Saturday afternoon at the Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center on Clay Kaserne, though.

Marymount gave Vicenza all it could handle and made the Cougars sweat it out during the Division II title game of the 2025 DODEA European basketball championships. The Cougars eventually managed to pull away for a 57-39 victory.

While the blowout victory over Naples the year before marked the program’s first in a decade, this year’s had added meaning because the game was a dogfight.

“It was very important for us for us to know just because we won it last year, nothing was given,” Vicenza guard Jace Herron said. “We had to work just as hard, and I think that first half really showed us that.”

Not that the Cougars (17-2) came into the season, tournament or final complacent.

They brought back nine from last year’s squad, including All-European performers Ben Harlow and Herron. Harlow, who left the team after his freshman season to play on the Italian side, rejoined the program last year and noticed a major difference in the team’s quality.

They had that same hunger this season.

“We’ve been so blessed with a bunch of kids with the right mindset,” said Harlow, who was named the tournament MVP for the second straight season. “We’d get up at 4, go to morning practice before school, and that work really paid off. That’s how we were able to create a program where we’d go back to back.”

That work prepared them for Marymount (7-7), which shocked the Cougars and the crowd in Wiesbaden by jumping out to a 12-4 advantage at the 2-minute, 34-second mark in the first quarter.

Vicenza’s Jace Herron goes to the hoop against Marymount’s Hiyab Haile in the boys Division II final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. The Cougars beat the Royals 57-39 to take the division title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza’s Joe Kelly powers his way past Marymount defenders in the boys Division II final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. The Cougars beat the Royals 57-39 to take the division title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

AOSR’s Lorenzo Tranquilli gets an off a shot against Vicenza’s Micheal Darland in the boys Division II final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. The Cougars beat the Royals 57-39 to take the division title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza’s Micheal Darland shoots over Marymount’s Gael Grant Rios in the boys Division II final at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. The Cougars beat the Royals 57-39 to take the division title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

The Vicenza Cougars are the DODEA-Europe boys Division II champions after defeating Marymount 57-39 at the DODEA-Europe basketball championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb. 15, 2025. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Five Royals scored during that stretch, and no two buckets were alike. Among the highlights were Gael Grant Rios scoring on a nifty reverse and Hiyab Haile lobbed a pass over the Vicenza defense to Oscar White in the paint.

The Cougars, meanwhile, committed nine turnovers in the first quarter, something coach Jesse Woods said his squad needed to clean up. His players did that with just 10 turnovers the rest of the game.

Herron gave Vicenza the lead for good with a pair of free throws at the 7:18 mark in the second quarter, but the team couldn’t put the Royals away. The lead hovered in the upper single digits until a Herron reverse and a Harlow steal on back-to-back possessions with a minute remaining in the third quarter pushed it to double digits at 40-27.

“That team played great basketball tonight, and it made us test ourselves mentally,” Woods said.

“It’s a lot of credit I give to them, but we had some struggles ourselves. We turned the ball over a couple of times, we missed some easy baskets underneath that would get us going, and we missed a ton of 3s. When we get 3s going, we can take off, but that wasn’t the case tonight, so we had to grind.”

Harlow led the way with 19 points, 10 of which came off steals and layups on the other end. Herron chipped in with 16 points.

Although the lead ballooned in the end, Marymount coach Phil Davis had nothing but praise for his players that they made the title game. In his first year in charge of the program, Davis was hoping to change the culture at a school where soccer and tennis are the main sports.

These Royals were ahead of schedule.

Lorenzo Tranquilli paced Marymount with 15 points, while Grant Rios contributed 10 points in the losing effort.

“I told the kids at the beginning of the year, our goal was to play on Saturday,” Davis said. “When they came to the venue, they knew what I was talking about.

“Nobody expected them, but one thing they have is a lot of heart. I think they surprised a lot of people this year.”

As for Vicenza’s future, Woods poured water on any talk of a three-peat. The Cougars lose four seniors – Harlow, Herron, Joe Kelly and Micheal Darland – and he doesn’t know exactly what will happen during PCS season.

Still, the foundation has been set for the program, something in which the seniors take great pride.

“This (level of success) hasn’t happened at Vicenza for a long time, so the fact that we were all a part of this is probably the highlight of my high school career,” Herron said.