Spartans set to begin defense of District 3 title tonight against Blue Raiders
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Second-seeded and defending champion Wyomissing hosts No. 7 Middletown tonight in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal at 7.
The winner moves on to face either No. 3 Northern Lebanon or No. 6 Trinity Monday in the semifinals at the site of the highest-seeded team.
The Spartans (25-0) and Blue Raiders (15-8) have become familiar opponents: Tonight’s matchup is the fourth over the past two seasons.
Middletown handed Wyomissing one of its three losses during the regular season last year when Jayla Koser, a freshman, scored a game-high 15 points as the Blue Raiders won 40-33 on their home court.
Amaya Stewart scored 18 points and the Spartans enacted revenge on their home court a few weeks later with a 51-38 victory in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal en route to their first district championship.
The teams jousted again last month with the Spartans winning 43-36 in Wyomissing. Stewart scored her 1,000 point in the game, on her birthday, and finished with a team-high 14 points and six rebounds. Koser scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Middletown is one of only six teams to stay within 10 points of the Spartans. The others: York Catholic (58-53), Downingtown West (52-46), West York (50-42), Gov. Mifflin (50-42), and Wilson (45-36) in the Berks championship.
To watch a Livestream of this game, click here.
Stewart, the 6-1 junior All-State selection and two-time Berks Player of the Year, again leads Wyomissing as a walking double-double; she’s scoring 18.9 per game, second-highest in the league.
UMass soccer commit Annie McCaffrey (7.4 points per game) was selected All-Berks and is one of many multi-sport athletes who combine to play an imposing defense that allows only 26.8 points per game.
North Carolina lacrosse commit Audrey Hurleman (4.5) fronts the top of Wyomissing head coach Aaron Anders’ zone defense while speedster Alexis Hardy (6.8) jumps into the passing lanes from the wing.
Stewart, McCaffrey, Hurleman, and Hardy are each returning starters from last season’s PIAA quarterfinalist.
Sophomore Kacey Maggs (4.2, 20 3’s) slid into the starting lineup and freshman Karly Hyde (3.8, 13 3’s) is first off the bench.
The Spartans had a bye in the first round of the district tournament; they last took the court in their against Wilson six days ago.
The key for the Spartans again will be stopping Koser, a 5-11 sophomore guard who can do it all and has Division I offers from Niagara and Wagner.
Koser dropped a 42-point bomb earlier this season in a loss to Bishop McDevitt and hit two clutch free throws with 4.6 seconds left to lift the Blue Raiders over No. 10 Schuylkill Valley 38-36 in the district quarterfinals Monday.
Koser led the team with a 16.9 scoring average during the regular season, third-highest in the Mid-Penn Conference. She averaged 7.9 rebounds per game, 2.3 assists, and 3.6 steals and hit 25 3’s.
Sophomore 5-6 guard Emma Cleland was second on the team in scoring at 10.2 per game and led the team in assists (2.5 per game) and 3’s (34). Sophomore center Destiney Gassert averaged 8.4 rebounds and nearly a block per game.
Sophomore guards Journee (2.2 steals per game) and JaLiyah Stover round out the starting lineup for LaSonda Dixon’s Blue Raiders.
Middletown has never won a district championship. It is 20-26 overall in the district tournament; Monday’s victory over Schuylkill Valley was its first district victory since 2017.
Wyomissing has gone 49-50 in 42 district playoff appearances and went to the title game in 1979, 2004, and last season, when it won 35-30 over Delone Catholic.
