20-win regular seasons by Wyomissing, Wilson are rare among Berks girls
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
It’s hard to win 20 games in an entire high school basketball season, even with league, district and state playoff games tacked on..
It’s much harder to finish a regular season at the 20-win mark with a PIAA-maximum of 22 games.
Two teams in the Berks Girls League finished their regular seasons at the 20-win mark, Wyomissing (22-0) and Wilson (21-1). Only six other Berks teams in the past decade have accomplished that.
How will the Spartans, led by junior Amaya Stewart, and Bulldogs, led by sophomore Laila Jones, fare during their postseason runs?
Wyomissing finished last year’s regular season 20-2 before embarking on a playoff run that saw it win its first Berks and District 3 titles. The Spartans went all the way to the PIAA quarterfinals before falling to Pittsburgh North Catholic and ending with a 28-3 record. Stewart’s 15.3 points per game led the team.
Schuylkill Valley went 20-1 in the 2021-22 regular season before losing its final three games to finish 20-4. The Panthers lost to Reading High in the BCIAA quarterfinals, Lancaster Catholic in the district quarterfinals, and Bishop McDevitt in the PIAA Tournament. Seniors Madison Ziska (13.3) and Jadyn Heck-Hoppes (11.0) were the Panthers’ leading scorers.
Twin Valley finished the 2017-18 regular season at 21-1. The Raiders fell to Gov. Mifflin in the BCIAA semifinals and Harrisburg in the district semifinals. They beat Susquehannock in the district third-place game and beat Mount St. Joseph in the PIAA first round — the first state playoff win in program history.
The Raiders lost to Archbishop Wood in the second round of the state tournament, ending Peyton McDaniel’s sophomore season at 26-4. The James Madison wing and 2,000-point high school scorer averaged a team-leading 18.0 points.
Wyomissing finished the 2016-17 regular season at 21-1 behind the play of juniors Myra Owens (14.1 points per game) and Leah McAvoy (12.9). The Spartans defeated Antietam in the BCIAA quarterfinals before losing their last three games: to Wilson in the BCIAA semifinals, West Perry in the district quarterfinals, and York Suburban in the district playbacks.
The Spartans are again on this list, finishing 20-2 during the 2015-16 regular season. Owens had a team-high 12.0 scoring average followed by senior Elke Cacchione (11.2) and McAvoy (9.8). They fell in the BCIAA quarterfinals to Wilson. In districts, they defeated Steel-High before falling to York Catholic and then Delone Catholic in the third-place game.
Gov. Mifflin went 21-1 in 2015-16 behind seniors Melissa Martin (12.8 average), Madison Koehler (9.5), Kylie Herman (9.2) and junior Jennifer Martin (9.3). The Mustangs won the BCIAA championship game over Berks Catholic, went to the district final before losing to Cumberland Valley, then lost to Garnet Valley in states.
