PIAA Tournament preview: Wyomissing vs. Parkway Center City
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
What: PIAA Tournament first round
Classification: 4A
Who: Wyomissing (26-2) vs. Parkway Center City (9-5)
When: Saturday, 4:30
Where: Wyomissing High School
About the Spartans: It all starts with sophomore Amaya Stewart, the Berks Player of the Year who has led team to first league and district titles in program history. . . She had 12 points and 12 rebounds in 35-30 win over Delone Catholic, preventing Squirettes from winning a fourth straight District 3 title. . . No. 3 seed defeated Middletown 51-38 and Berks Catholic 24-23 en route to the title game. . . Stewart averages a team-high 15.1 points and leads team in rebounding and blocked shots. . . The 6-1 center has a Temple offer with more to come. . .She averaged 16.2 points and 11.8 rebounds in six playoff games. . . Sophomore guard Alexis Hardy (7.7) and junior forward Annie McCaffrey (7.5) are top scorers. . . Senior guard Lexi Loeb has 52 3’s, second best in Berks. . .She’s hit 118 in her career. . . Sophomore guard Audrey Hurleman heads the staunch 3-2 zone. . . Allowing 28.3 points per game, scoring 50.3. . . Have matched program record with 26 wins. . . Established record in 2004 on way to PIAA quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual champ Delone Catholic. . . Have been back to PIAA Tournament once since in 2018 when they lost to Scranton Prep in the first round.
Coach’s quote: “They’re an elite team. They have some really strong passing, good shooters. I love the culture of their team. When the coach subs, everyone (on the bench) stands up while the person is coming out and is giving support.” — Parkway Center City head coach Anthony Holloway, on the Spartans.
“I’m looking forward to Saturday. Let’s get this thing going because it’s been over a week (since we played). You know what happens sometimes when you’re not playing, you can get stale, complacent. I don’t see that right now, so that’s good.” – Wyomissing coach Aaron Anders.
About the Bulldogs: First winning season since 2017-18, when they went 13-8. . .Hadn’t won a game since that season until this year behind first-year head coach Anthony Holloway. . . Holloway was an assistant at Widener University and Lincoln University. . . Lost to Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech 59-50 and defeated Prep Charter 57-41 in District 12 playoffs to finish fifth. . . Senior guard Symone Wilson averaging 12.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 5.6 steals and a block. . . Freshman wing Jessica Canty averaging 12.5 points. . .Freshman center Adrian Weaver leads team in rebounds (9.1) and blocks (2.7). . . First PIAA Tournament appearance.
Coach’s quote: “They made states and don’t want their season to end. We have some film on them and we’ll worry about them when that time comes. But for now, we are going to continue focusing on the little things that have gotten us here.” – Wyomissing coach Aaron Anders.
“We don’t have that same type of record (as Wyomissing) and it’s my first year as coach at Parkway so I wasn’t even able to schedule 20-plus games. For us to be in the play-in round of states and go against another great team, it’s amazing.” — Parkway Center City head coach Anthony Holloway.
Winner gets: (11-2) North Schuylkill (23-3) or (12-3) Neumann-Goretti (10-14), Wednesday, March 15.
