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Heidelberg's Chris Cuthbert gets past Kaiserslautern's Andrew Stern to go in for a basket in the Lions' 71-39 semifinal win over Kaiserslautern on Friday night.

Heidelberg's Chris Cuthbert gets past Kaiserslautern's Andrew Stern to go in for a basket in the Lions' 71-39 semifinal win over Kaiserslautern on Friday night. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Heidelberg's Chris Cuthbert gets past Kaiserslautern's Andrew Stern to go in for a basket in the Lions' 71-39 semifinal win over Kaiserslautern on Friday night.

Heidelberg's Chris Cuthbert gets past Kaiserslautern's Andrew Stern to go in for a basket in the Lions' 71-39 semifinal win over Kaiserslautern on Friday night. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Heidelberg's Marcel Simon, right, fends off Kaiserslautern's Andrew Stern as he flies to the hoop in a Division I semifinal on Friday night. Heidelberg won, 71-39.

Heidelberg's Marcel Simon, right, fends off Kaiserslautern's Andrew Stern as he flies to the hoop in a Division I semifinal on Friday night. Heidelberg won, 71-39. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

MANNHEIM, Germany – For the fifth straight year, the Heidelberg and Ramstein boys will face off for the European Division I basketball championship.Ramstein earned its way into the final game of the high school season by turning back Patch, 65-49, in one Friday night semifinal, and the Heidelberg Lions ran past the Kaiserslautern Red Raiders, 71-39, in the other.Ramstein is the two-time defending D-I champion, but top-seeded Heidelberg looked every inch the world beater Friday, putting on a clinic of get-to-the-rim basketball.“Not this game,” Heidelberg coach Ron Merriwether answered when asked whether his team ever shoots from the perimeter. “This game” was a series of fast-break lay-ups, cuts to the rim and put-back baskets.Chris Cuthbert scored all his 14 points in the paint to lead all scorers; his Heidelberg teammates Jack Cannon and Stirling Thomas added 12 and 10 points, respectively.“We were hot inside, so we kept going there,” said Heidelberg’s Xavier Moore, one of seven seniors on Heidelberg’s 12-man roster.Bernard Burwell scored 10 points for K-town.Ramstein won the last title-game meetings against Heidelberg; the Lions won the previous two. Tip-off at the BFV Sports Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

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