Wyomissing girls, boys teams set for once-in-a-lifetime experience on 76ers home court
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The Wyomissing Spartans made three 3-pointers in their season-opener Friday at Schuylkill Valley. They’ll probably make even fewer in their second game Monday against Elco.
Good bet their coach Garrett Etzel won’t be encouraging them to shoot from beyond the acr, not on the home court of the Philadelphia 76ers where the 3-point line is 23 feet, nine inches – four feet longer than on the high school floors they’re used to playing on.
“I’m not expecting to shoot too many 3’s,” Etzel said.
The Wyomissing girls and boys basketball teams will have the opportunity to play Monday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center as part of the Sixers’ “Court of Dreams” experience.
The games were set up by Elco athletic director Tommy Mealy, who had been aware of the NBA team’s offer to allow high school teams to play on its home court.
“That was something that was always on my radar,” said Mealy, who applied for the opportunity last month.
He reached out to Wyomissing, which already had regular season games scheduled for both the girls and boys teams on Monday (the girls were scheduled to play at Wyomissing, the boys at Elco).
The girls game tips at 1:05, the boys at 2:35.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said Etzel, the Spartans’ first-year coach. “It’s just going to be great to see it. It’s not too often in high school you get to play on a court like Wells Fargo.”
Following the games the teams will have dinner together, then attend the 76ers game that night against Chicago Bulls.
The Wyomissing boys played their first game Friday, losing to Schuylkill Valley 46-42. Their season was delayed two weeks because of the football team’s run to the PIAA Class 3A semifinals, which was played on Dec. 1.
Several members of the varsity football team are part of the basketball team, including Drew Forrey, Justice Hardy, Logan Hyde and Max Tipton. They didn’t join practice until Dec. 6, three weeks after the rest of the players.
Etzel said Monday’s experience will be beneficial for a team just coming together.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to bond,” he said. “We’ll be there all day together. We’ll be able to support our girls, who are playing before us. Then we’re going to grab some food (after our game) and watch the Sixers together. It’s a great time to bond.”
The girls game could be a District 3 playoff preview: Both teams are unbeaten. The Raiders (5-0) are ranked No. 1 in the Class 4A power ratings; the defending champion Spartans (6-0) are No 4.
Wyomissing beat Elco 50-36 last December in Myerstown on the way to a 28-3 finish that saw them reach the state quarterfinals. Elco returns four starters from a team that finished 9-10.
The Spartans return their top three scorers from last season: Amaya Stewart, Alexis Hardy and Annie McCaffrey, as well as defensive stopper Audrey Hurleman. Stewart is averaging a 19.7 points, second in the Berks League.
The Elco boys are 3-2, with wins over Spring Grove, North Schuylkill and Hamburg.
The NBA 3-point line is 22 feet in the corners and 23-9 elsewhere. The NCAA men use a 20-foot, nine-ich arc. The NCAA women and high school girls and boys play with a 19-9 arc.