Wiesbaden’s Elijah Kidd shoots on a drive as Ramstein’s Cristian Finley defends during a Jan. 20, 2026, game at Wiesbaden High School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – It’s difficult to look past All-European big man Joel Idowu when it comes to the Wiesbaden boys basketball team.
That’s understandable. He’s a shoo-in for a double-double every night.
Yet the Warriors want the rest of DODEA-Europe’s Division I to know they are more than the 6-foot-6 junior. And they showed it during their 72-61 victory over Ramstein on Tuesday evening at Wiesbaden High School.
After the Royals (5-3, 5-3) connected on a pair of 3-pointers to pull within one point just 46 seconds into the fourth quarter, Carter Edwards and Gunner Blackmon set up each other for treys on back-to-back possessions.
A minute and a half later, with Ramstein once again back within a point at 56-55, Elijah Kidd gave Wiesbaden (6-1, 4-1) a shot in the arm with 3s on consecutive possessions as the Warriors pulled away for good.
“Seeing those guys hit those shots shows how much we’ve stepped up to match the level we were at last year,” Idowu said.
Wiesbaden’s Tahjzae Reche dribbles as Ramstein’s Rhett Dalling defends during a Jan. 20, 2026, game at Wiesbaden High School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden’s Jordan Palmer goes to knock the ball away from Ramstein’s Jayden Young during a Jan. 20, 2026, game at Wiesbaden High School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Last year’s level saw the Warriors bring home the program’s first championship since 1999.
Gone are two All-European starters and other key role players, meaning this year’s squad feels the pressure to step up, Kidd said.
The transfer from Camp Humphreys, South Korea, is one of them, and he delivered Tuesday with a 21-point performance.
“We lost a lot of players, so a lot of people are doubting us,” Kidd said. “We know we got to hit those kinds of shots to prove ourselves.”
Wiesbaden came out of the gate strong, jumping out to an early 10-0 advantage when Edwards hit a jumper at the 5-minute, 14-second mark.
The Royals turned things around by speeding up the game with a full-court press on defense. The hosts struggled against it for the rest of the first half, committing 16 turnovers.
Ramstein used that defense to create offense, such as the first seven points of the second quarter coming off steals by Cameron Saunders, who scored a layup and a 3-pointer, and Jayden Young, whose layup at the 6:18 mark gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 21-20.
“Their defense was legitimate,” Brown said. “They created a lot of chaos. They got out in break and made a bunch of layups on us.”
Still, the Warriors found themselves tied at halftime, and they turned to their rock to slow things down in the second half.
Ramstein’s Cameron Saunders rises up to shoot in the lane as Wiesbaden’s Joel Idowu, left, and Tahjzae Reche defend during a Jan. 20, 2026, game at Wiesbaden High School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein’s Cristian Finley looks to pass the ball between Wiesbaden defenders Joel Idowu, left, and Micheal Tate during a Jan. 20, 2026, game at Wiesbaden High School in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
They fed Idowu the ball, and even when he didn’t score, he affected the Ramstein defense. He either found the holes or had Royals collapse on him to open space for his teammates.
Idowu finished with a game-high 29 points and 17 rebounds.
“I haven’t seen anybody yet that has an answer for No. 25 down low,” Wiesbaden coach David Brown said of Idowu. “As long as we have that advantage, I feel like we probably should use it.”
The Royals lost the lead after a 10-0 Warrior run over a 2-minute span late in the third period and didn’t get it back despite the two fourth-quarter comebacks.
New coach Deven Benson credited his players for not letting their slow start hold them back, but he also said the team got into too much foul trouble. While it’s a symptom of the team’s defense, the coach mentioned the Royal must avoid the whistles.
“We foul a lot, but we also have a lot of traps and our defense is pretty chaotic,” Benson said. “It puts a hurt on a lot of teams. We just need to stop reaching.”
Aarius Guishard paced Ramstein with 15 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. Awwab Noble chipped in with 11 points.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.stripes.com ’
