The AIS-Salzburg girls basketball team came together this past weekend to play their best basketball of the season at the right time, going 4-0 at the tournament and claiming their second basketball Jamboree championship in 3 years. To make the championship victory even sweeter, the girls defeated their season nemesis in the final game:  the International Christian School of Vienna Eagles. The teams had two intense matches earlier this season which saw both go into overtime—one of which went into double overtime. 

“In the last game against the Eagles, we showed incredible perseverance,” said team captain and tournament-leading scorer, Nastia B. “Despite being behind at half time, we managed to raise our energy level and push back.”

Photo: Despite receiving a lot of extra attention from opposing teams, Nastia B. still managed to lead the tournament in scoring with 56 points in 4 games. 

Push back the Lions did, as Victoria “Scrappy” A. and Barb A. were assigned the task of double-teaming the star player #3 from the Eagles who was on fire in the first half. Chanti S. also deserves credit for shutting down #3, often replacing Scrappy to ensure full energy was always directed to the task. 

“Number three came to play and everything she put up in the first half was going in,” said Coach Burns. “But once I put Scrappy and Barb on her, it was game over.”

In fact, #3 only scored 3 points in the second half, largely due to Scappy, who got her nickname early on this year for bringing a much-needed physical intensity to the team.

“I just want to say that this team has been one of the best teams and will always remain in my memory,” said Scrappy after the dramatic final game. 

Photo: Number 4 from AIS-Salzburg, Victoria “Scrappy” A., keeps an eye on the top scorer from the ICSV Eagles.

The Lions’ defence as a whole was excellent, holding ICSV to zero points in the final quarter to secure the 26-22 victory and the championship. With Nastia B. defending the rim in a triangle with the other two defenders, the Eagles’ offence came to a screeching halt. 

Coach Burns was ecstatic after the game: “I am so proud of how the girls came together as a team.  There was good ball movement on offence, we minimized our turnovers, and our intensity and effort on defence in the final match were off the charts! Our team just wanted it more.”

“The girls were fierce and fabulous,” said Mrs. Kasberger, who cheered on both Lions’ teams on Saturday. “As for the boys, I don’t think I’ve seen them play as hard as they did the last two games – they should be proud of themselves.”

Photos: Ms. Baehler, Mr. Lichty, Ms. Cerone, and Mrs. Kasberger (top), cheer on the Lions. Leo the Lion (Yehor C.) and the girls’ basketball team (bottom) cheer on the boys’ team. 

Unfortunately, the boys’ team was unable to find much chemistry in this final tournament. After losing the Friday opener to QSI Bratislava, followed by a close 18-21 loss to eventual champions, the Vienna International School, their hopes of making the trophy round were squashed. In their final two games, coaches DeWitt and Nuess played many of the younger players on the bench, who brought good energy, propelling the team to their first win over Danube International School, 28-21. 

“The boys have improved a lot throughout the whole season,” said a disappointed Coach DeWitt after the tournament. “We have a tremendous amount of talent at the school. If we can learn to keep our emotions under control, we are going to have a lot of success.”

Despite not achieving their goal of winning the tournament, the boys supported the girls’ team in their final match vs. ICSV as they cheered relentlessly throughout the match. 

“I have not seen our boys’ team support the girls’ team that enthusiastically in my 20 years coming to this tournament,” said Mrs. Kasberger of the community spirit exhibited by the boys’ team. 

Congratulations to Nastia B. and Milo B. for being voted to the all-tournament teams by the coaches and players of the tournament. 

The AIS-Salzburg junior varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball teams both finished with two wins and one loss at the DVAC mid-season junior varsity festival this past weekend in Vienna and Bratislava. 
The boys’ team had their toughest match of the day in game one against the American International School-Vienna. The Lions were a little out of sync, with a mixture of varsity and junior varsity players making the trip and learning to play with one another.

“We didn’t play as a team against AIS Vienna,” said JV head coach, Tom Henry Nuess. “We played pretty selfish basketball. They didn’t pass like we wanted them to.”

Despite the lack of teamwork in game 1, the Lions made a game of it, narrowly losing by a score of 29-31.

The boys regrouped for their second game against the Britannica International School of Budapest and came together to play some really good team basketball, resulting in a 34-22 win. Deigo O. stood out defensively and locked down the main scorer from Britannica, which made a major positive impact on the game for the Lions. Ernö V. stepped up his game big time in game 2, both defensively and offensively.  

Photo: Senior player, Milo B., puts back a rebound during the DVAC Junior Varsity Basketball Festival in Vienna on January 27th, 2024. 

The third and final game against the Budapest British International School was much of the same, with the Lions trusting each other and playing as a team. 

Coach Nuess was even more impressed with game three. 

“Each game we progressed a little more. Game three was even better team basketball, with more passes and more cuts, more setting up teammates so they can score. It worked really nicely.”

Ernö V. continued to grow in confidence and was again a standout in game three on both ends of the court. 

“He was scoring like crazy,” said Coach Nuess of Ernö. “Everything was going in, some circus shots too. Then he would get back on defense and lock down defensively.”

In fact, like Diego in game 2, Ernö was assigned the task of defending the opponent’s top scorer in game 3 and also executed his assignment.  

Senior player, Milo B., was a dominant player on both ends of the court throughout the weekend for the Lions, especially when he started using his teammates more in games 2 and 3 to set up some nice given-and-go plays. 

Overall, Coach Huess was very pleased with their showing at the festival. 

“It was a good weekend. The boys were good, the attitudes good, they all got along. It was good.”

Photo: Diego O. and Milo B. connect on a give-and-go. 

The girls’ basketball team also finished with 2 wins and one loss at the DVAC festival. Minus several long-term Lions players in Chanti S. Jade R. and Nikol I., as well as newcomer and point guard, Victoria A., the inexperienced Lions were a good fit for the junior varsity level with six of 10 girls completely new to the game of basketball. 

“This was the perfect opportunity for our newcomers to get their feet wet and gain some confidence,” said coach David Burns after the event. “Jennet, Lera, Toma, Liza P., Natalija, and Liza K. had a ton of playing time and all improved in leaps and bounds.”

The girls’ team also had a tough welcome to the festival as they faced off against the host British International School Bratislava in their first match on Saturday morning, a team that most likely should have been at the varsity festival. The Lions came out with full intensity and competed well with the much more experienced opponent, managing to keep the score at a tie after the first quarter and only down by 4 points at the half. 

“It was one of those coaching moments where you get goosebumps,” said Burns. “The girls played shut-down defense and played as a team.”

Photo: The girls’ basketball team pose for a photo in Bratislava. 

The Lions eventually lost 23-13, as Nastia B., Barb A., and Marybel A.—who shouldered much of the ball possession and offensive responsibility—began to run out of gas in the second half after playing almost every minute of the game. 

In their final two matches, the Lions were up against two schools with similar experience in the American International Schools of Budapest and Vienna. With newly gained confidence after a strong showing in game one, the Lions dominated both matches 23-9 and 33-7 behind strong play on both ends of the court from Nastia, Barb, and Marybel. 

“Those three definitely carried us offensively, and defensively everyone was on point,” said Burns.

15-year-old grade 10 student Nastia B. was an unstoppable force and was easily the best player at the tournament according to Burns. Grade 9 student and 180 cm tall, Lera K., has adapted well to her role as center, grabbing numerous rebounds on both ends of the court and controlling the paint on defense. The highlight of the weekend came when Jennet stole a pass, dribbled to the other end of the court, and scored her first-ever basket. Toma also scored for the first time.

“When Jennet scored, we all celebrated like we won Olympic gold,” said coach Burns. “I am not going to lie, I got a bit choked up.”

One of the year’s most anticipated events, the 2022 AIS-Salzburg Basketball Jamboree held back in early March was successful despite covid-19 doing its best to disrupt the tournament once again after two years of cancellation due to the virus. It was the tournament’s 30th Anniversary this year. 

“Typically, there are six schools represented in both the boys and girls tournaments. However this year, with covid infections still high, we had to get a bit creative to make it happen,” said tournament organizer and head coach of the girls’ basketball team, David Burns.

Both QSI Bratislava and AIS-Salzburg had to field two boys’ teams in order to make it a six-team tournament with two schools withdrawing last minute due to covid outbreaks within their teams.

“Schools from Budapest and Switzerland that normally attend the tournament could not make it this year. It was a bit too much with covid still being a factor. We are optimistic that next year the tournament will be full again,” added Burns.

Despite the setbacks, the tournament went well with our girls’ team winning the championship and our boys’ also having a strong showing, winning a game in their pool to advance to the 3rd place match which they lost in a nailbiter.

We invite you to watch the highlight video below of this year’s tournament. 

One would think that student enthusiasm or basketball would be low in a year without scheduled competitions.  This is not the case at AIS-Salzburg, however.  Both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams have been practicing twice weekly and with surprisingly large turnouts each time. 

“I am pleasantly surprised at the number of students who signed up to play basketball,” said girls’ coach and Athletic Director, Dave Burns.  “Currently, we have 17 boys and 14 girls on the teams and some new talent this year that has both myself and Coach Dewitt excited.”

In their second season under coach Nick Dewitt, the seven returning boys’ are showing a lot of growth in their game and increased ability to work together. With the addition of ten new players, there is a nice mix of experience and youth to build on for the future. 

Heading into this school year, the girls’ team was the team that needed a roster boost the most with only three girls returning from last year’s squad.  Now, with the addition of eleven new girls to the team, the future looks bright. 

“Not only are there a lot of new faces, but there are a number of new girls that bring a combination of athleticism and competitiveness to the court. Others who are less familiar with contact sports are showing a lot of promise and starting to get used to the physical nature of the game. More than anything, I am most excited about the great attitudes across the board. They are a great group of girls,” said coach Burns on the outlook of his team. 

The likelihood of playing competitions this school year is still uncertain and the coaches are hopeful that they will be able to play a game or two before the summer break. 

“If we are able to play some games obviously that would be ideal. However, as it is right now, we have enough players to play our own games and we are taking full advantage of that. We now structure our practices where we focus on skill development for the first half of practice and then play a scrimmage game for the second half, stopping the game for coaching moments as we see fit. In fact, the kids are receiving more game competition right now than they would in a normal season and both myself and coach Dewitt agree that this approach is working well. We may even continue with that when things do return to normal since the best way for a kid to learn is to experience a situation in a game.”  

This strategy makes sense when considering that since the pandemic started, Lions basketball teams have missed three Danube Valley Athletic Conference tournaments and two Jamboree tournaments, our annual boys and girls tournament that we host. This is on top of the dozen or so friendly games that would have also been played during this time. 

“Yes of course it is frustrating because the kids love traveling around Europe playing in tournaments. Those are always the highlight of the season and where a lot of the memories are created. We try to keep the kids focused on the future and the positives that will come out of this situation. Since we are unable to play games, we are in less of a hurry to develop skills and get them game-ready. This allows us to start from scratch and build up their basic fundamentals. It is rare we have a kid for more than 3 years, which simply is not enough time to develop their skills to the level we would like when considering basketball is only played during one-third of the school year. This is our disadvantage as a boarding school where students often do not stay at the school K through 12, as in many non-boarding international schools. Now, we can really approach it differently, take our time and give these kids a nice solid foundation of skills going into next year and longer-term,” replied coach Burns when asked about the tournament cancelations.  

Looking forward, this approach does make sense when considering that 14 of the 17 boys and 12 of the 14 girls are potential returners next year. Longer-term, the boys’ roster has six players that are grade 10 or younger while the girls’ roster has eight. So the future does look bright and the time to “rebuild” and come back stronger couldn’t be any more ideal. 

This past weekend was a painful for AIS-Salzburg Lions Basketball as it was the weekend our 30th Annual Basketball Jamboree was scheduled to take place. However, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and subsequent school losing, the tournament was cancelled.

We had 12 teams that signed up for the event, 6 on the girls’ side and 6 on the boys’ side. Unfortunately, we will have to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the tournament in 2021. Until then, here are some clips from last year’s tournament.