Small units shine in basketball tourney

Airman 1st Class Edward Drescher
Kaiserslautern American

The U.S. Air Forces in Europe Small Units Basketball Championship kicked off Monday at the Vogelweh Fitness Center.

The tournament gives smaller units throughout USAFE a chance to steal the sporting spotlight. This year’s tournament contained teams from Fairford, Great Britain, Menwith Hill, Great Britain, Geilenkirchen, Germany, St. Mawgan, Great Britain, Sembach/Vogelweh, Germany, Keflavik, Iceland, Alconbury, Great Britain and Croughton, Great Britain.

The tournament started with pool play Monday and Tuesday. Pool A contained Fairford, Menwith Hill, Geilenkirchen and St. Mawgan, and Pool B housed the teams from Sembach/Vogelweh, Keflavik, Alconbury and Croughton.

The results of three pool-play games decided the seeding for the tournament. In Pool A, Menwith Hill came out on top finishing 3-0, Geilenkirchen took second at 2-1, Fairford was third at 1-2, and St. Mawgan didn’t record a victory.

Pool B had Sembach/Vogelweh in first at 3-0, Keflavik second at 2-1, Croughton third at 1-2, and Alconbury last at 0-3.

Tournament play started Wednesday and saw most of the top teams in pool play advance. Menwith Hill started it off with an 88-49 win over Alconbury. Keflavik followed with a 104-76 victory over Fariford. The Croughton Cougars pulled the only upset by defeating higher-ranked Geilenkirchen 70-62. Lastly, Sembach/Vogelweh easily handled St. Mawgan 88-60.

The semi-finals of the tournament were held Thursday with Menwith Hill taking on Keflavik and Croughton taking on Sembach. The winners of those games will meet in the championship game which will be held at 3 p.m. today at the Vogelweh Fitness Center.

Anyone interested in the tournament can contact the Vogelweh Fitness Center at 489-7138.