Soph Amaya Stewart sparks Wyomissing to first Berks girls basketball title

(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details, postgame reaction and a full box score.)

Wyomissing stuck to its winning formula, with strong defense and a big effort from Amaya Stewart in the middle, to claim its first Berks Girls League championship Friday, beating Reading High 46-28 at Santander Arena.

Stewart, a 6-foot sophomore drawing Division I interest, scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for the second-seeded Spartans (23-2).

The loss ended the season for the fourth-seeded Red Knights (14-11), who did not qualify for the District 3 Tournament.

Stewart and Annie McCaffrey each scored five first-quarter points as the Spartans went ahead 14-5 and maintained the lead the entire way. They were up 27-16 at halftime and pushed the lead to 20 points early in the fial quarter.

Sophomore Alexis Hardy had seven points, six rebounds and six steals for Wyomissing. Maddie Campbell and McCaffrey each scored seven for Wyomissing.

Ashanti Chapman and Yamilex Rodriguez each scored seven for Reading.

Wyomissing reached the Berks championship game twice before but lost each, in 2001 and 2021.

The Red Knights struggled to find shots against the Wyomissing zone and scored just one basket over a six-minute stretch of the first and second quarters, falling behind 20-5.

The Red Knights also had trouble containing Stewart, who hit 5-of-7 first-half shots and scored 11 points.

Reading High last won a county title in 2010, when it defeated Wilson. Since then it reached the title game in 2012, 2019 and 2020.

Wyomissing will go into the Class 4A Tournament as the No. 3 seed; it opens at home Feb. 24.

Wyomissing won the Berks III title and went unbeaten in league play. It advanced to the championship game by beating Exeter 59-26 and Wilson 43-35. Stewart had 19 points and 11 rebounds and McCaffrey had 16 points and eight rebounds in the semifinal win.

Reading High finished fourth in Berks I and qualified as a wild card entry, based on its regular season power rating. It advanced by beating Berks IV champ Brandywine Heights 45-22 and Berks I champ Berks Catholic 39-33.