It’s way too early, for sure . . . but here’s the Berks Girls League Top 10 for 2024-25
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The way-too-early Top 10 Berks Girls League rankings last season was close to accurate with Wyomissing, Berks Catholic, Wilson, Reading High, Gov. Mifflin, Oley Valley, Exeter, Brandywine Heights, Schuylkill Valley, and Twin Valley listed in that order.
Wilson overtook Berks Catholic, which arguably dropped beneath Gov. Mifflin with the Mustangs winning by 16 in February. The Saints swept Reading High in league play.
Oley Valley and Exeter won their respective divisions.
Schuylkill Valley and Brandywine Heights had strong seasons, even though the Bullets narrowly missed out on any postseason play.
Twin Valley improved by three wins but finished with an identical 4-7 Berks II record and fell to Muhlenberg in a crossover game. The Muhls finished 8-14 and had quality wins over Oley Valley, Exeter, and Reading High in the last two months of the season.
A more accurate 2023-24 hierarchy would’ve looked like this: 1. Wyomissing, 2. Wilson, 3. Gov. Mifflin, 4. Berks Catholic, 5. Reading High, 6. Oley Valley, 7. Exeter, 8. Schuylkill Valley, 9. Brandywine Heights, 10. Muhlenberg.
Spring sports are underway and April showers have arrived so let’s look eight months ahead and try again at predicting the Top 10 teams for the 2024-25 Berks Girls League season.
1. Wyomissing (31-1)
The Spartans made it one step further this season after finishing 28-3 and making it to the PIAA quarterfinals in 2022-23. They went to the PIAA Final Four before falling to eventual champion Blackhawk and broke records along the way.
Senior Annie McCaffrey will be studying and playing soccer at the University of Massachusetts next season but the rest of the team returns, including two-time MikeDragoSports.com Player of the Year Amaya Stewart.
Stewart, Alexis Hardy, and Audrey Hurleman will be aiming to end their basketball careers with two more wins than they got this year.
Underclassmen Kacey Maggs and Karly Hyde gained valuable experience and started multiple state playoff games, which they’ll build upon as the Spartans replace McCaffrey.
2. Wilson (24-5)
The Berks runner-up Bulldogs will run it back with rising junior starters Laila Jones, Violet Houck, and Laura Crocona set to return.
They’ll have to replace defensive ace, clutch 3-point shooter, and leader Jasilyn Moncada, but have plenty of guards ready to step up in rising junior Janai Tisdale and rising sophomores Kailani Hardy and Ryan Leaman, each of whom flashed when receiving minutes as freshmen.
Key contributors in Emma Williams and McKenna Peacock also return as Wilson seeks to improve on a district fourth-place finish and state playoff appearance.
3. Berks Catholic (12-13)
The Saints didn’t end the season the way they wanted with three straight losses and the program’s first losing season.
That’s sure to be on the Saints’ minds when they return to the court with four starters returning for their senior seasons in All-Berks pick Madison Langdon, Sydney Corado, Molly McFadden, and Giana Mirenda.
Rising junior Lily Wolf and rising sophomore Katy Linderman will likely have increased roles after strong JV seasons were rewarded with varsity minutes down the stretch.
Rising senior Emma Linderman is also back to provide gritty defense and rebounding after playing in all 25 games for the Saints this season.
4. Gov. Mifflin (15-10)
The Mustangs’ freshman trio of Bella Super, Brooklyn George, and Bridget Martin opened eyes this season and will continue to be matchup nightmares for opponents in the coming seasons.
They’ll have to do it next year without senior leader Taylor Koenig, a Berks County champion as a sophomore and an All-Berks pick.
Rising soph Hannah West came along as the season progressed and drilled a 3-pointer in each of the last seven games. More of that will be needed to replace the combined 95 3’s from Koenig and senior Keira Estrada.
Rising senior Mia Vazquez will be back in the post, but the Mustangs will need to find some contributors off the bench.
5. Reading High (10-13)
The Red Knights have their top two scorers back for their senior seasons in Yamilex Rodriguez and Tamyia Collier but graduate their third and fourth scorers in post Mariah Ruiz and wing Bianca Seabury.
Zaniaya Bradley will be tasked with a larger role in the paint and Elyssa Spring will continue bringing energy and defense on the wing for their senior years as well.
Rising senior Kailani Ocasio (team-high 15 3’s) and rising juniors Nayara Ortega and Mekhira Gaskins will have larger roles as Reading hopes to get back to the Berks championship game, as it did two seasons ago.
6. Schuylkill Valley (15-9)
The Panthers lose a strong senior class of Juliana Stichter (Bryn Athyn College), Natane White (Lancaster Bible College), and Kalika Kauffman, but seemingly have players ready to step up.
Rising junior Elyssa Sellers was the team’s second-highest scorer behind Stichter. Rising senior CC Reali was the fourth-leading scorer behind Stichter, Sellers, and White.
Rising junior center Julia Lassandro will hopefully be back for a full season after dealing with injuries last year and bench pieces Taryn Rittenhouse and Meghan Wickersham are both back for their senior years.
7. Brandywine Heights (14-8)
The good news for the Bullets: Dynamo guard Addison Benner is back for her senior season in which she needs only 20 points to eclipse 1,000 for her career.
The bad news: The rest of the starting lineup is gone.
Dana Wartzenluft, Olivia Moyer, Avery Potteiger, and Grace Potteiger are all graduating so Brandywine will need new players to rise up.
Rising juniors Jenna Crist and Lauren Stoudt and rising senior Devra Longacre all played in 15 games or more last season and will see a vast increase in responsibilities.
More good news: Berks IV rival Oley Valley will lose over 60 percent of its scoring with the graduations of Morgan Snyder, Dana Messner, and Ryanne Wheeler.
8. Twin Valley (7-15)
This is where the predictions get challenging and are based under the presumption defending Berks II champ Exeter will experience difficulty in replacing all-time leading scorer Grace Reedy, who accounted for nearly 47 percent of the Eagles’ scoring output this year.
The Raiders have finished second behind Exeter in Berks II the last two seasons and will have the best player in the division with Hailey Kilgore back for her junior year.
Olivia Schmittinger, Ellie Kaplan, Lauren Williams, Delaney Hoover, Alyssa Brown, Peyton Steiner, and Emma Hahn are all back after playing in 10 or more games last season.
Twin Valley likes to spread playing time around and had 14 players appear in 10 or more games last season, which should serve well as the Raiders attempt to win their first division title since 2021-22.
(Tim Macrina photo)
9. Conrad Weiser (6-16)
Reread the first sentence under Twin Valley’s section as it equivalently applies here.
The Scouts will be turning to a new page as longtime head coach Mark Owens resigned, but the cupboard wasn’t left bare in Robesonia.
Four starters return for their senior seasons in Alex Trevena, Gisselle Feliciano, Sydney Spang, and Lauren Grabosky. Feliciano was working her way back from a torn ACL last season and Spang suffered a broken leg in practice after playing in 13 games, but if they’re back to full strength the Scouts should compete for the Berks II title.
Rising sophomore Geniva Paul is a player to watch for the Scouts after playing in all 22 games and averaging 4.3 points per game as a freshman.
10. Muhlenberg (8-14)
The Muhls nearly qualified for the District 3 Class 5A Tournament, finishing in the No. 15 spot; the top 14 qualified.
Wins over division champs Oley Valley and Exeter in back-to-back games in January and BCIAA playoff qualifier Reading High in the season finale give Muhlenberg positives to build off heading into 2024-25.
Senior Peyton Brill graduates but leading scorer Lianna Martir returns for her junior season.
No. 3 scorer Alexis Garl and No. 4 scorer Sophia Fernadnez return for their senior years.
Ryanna Hightower-Prentice is also expected to be back for her senior season after returning to the team in late December last year.
If the Muhls can find a consistent fifth starter and production off the bench after a slim roster a year ago it wouldn’t be surprising to see them finish with their most wins since 2016-17, when they won 14 times.
