Spartans put squeeze on Vikings, head back to District 3 championship game

By Mike Drago Last updated Feb 27, 2024

2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by

Utilities Employees Credit Union

By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor

Northern Lebanon has faced some tough teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League this season. The Vikings played Lebanon, the No. 1 seed in Class 6A, and Lancaster Catholic, the top seed in 3A, twice each.

Ken Battistelli’s young team took its lumps against each but it hadn’t run into anything the likes of which it saw Monday at Wyomissing.

“We were a hair in over our heads tonight,” Battistelli said after his team was rolled by the unbeaten Spartans 45-15 in a District 3 Class 4A semifinal.

A hair?

More like a full head of hair the way the Spartans smothered them with their aggressive, swarming defense.

The third-seeded Vikings (19-6) scored four baskets in the first quarter . . . they got just two more the rest of the night.

“That’s impressive,” Wyomissing coach Aaron Anders said after the Spartans became the first team to hold Northern Lebanon under 20 points this season.

Over the final three quarters the Vikings made just 2-of-25 shots; they didn’t score in the fourth quarter, even after Amaya Stewart and the rest of Anders’ starters took a seat on the bench.

Allowing just 15 points in a district semifinal? Almost unheard.

“We always say: ‘Go 100 (miles per hour) on defense, 50 on offense,’ ” said Annie McCaffrey, an All-Berks forward and the only senior on the Wyomissing roster.

Now the Spartans head to Hershey to finish the job. They’ll meet top-seeded Delone Catholic (21-2) Thursday at 4:30 at Giant Center. It’ll be the second straight championship meeting between the teams; the Spartans beat the Squirettes 35-30 last year for their first title.

“This is a wonderful, wonderful moment for the team, the program and the school,” Anders said. “I’m looking forward to Thursday.”

Despite the 30-point final bulge and the fact that Northern Lebanon had so much difficulty putting the ball in the basket it was a competitive game for the first 16 minutes. Wyomissing, having its own issues on offense, led just 12-8 after 12 minutes and 21-11 at the half.

The Vikings are young – they start four sophomores – and small but they’re aggressive and pesky on defense and they battled a bigger, much more experience team – at least for a while.

Then Stewart, the two-time Berks Player of the Year, kicked it up a notch. She put together a six-minute stretch in the third quarter that was good as anything she’s ever produced. She scored Wyomissing’s first eight points of the quarter and 12 of its first 14.

She hit a short baseline jumper, scored off a rebound, powered inside for a three-point, showed off an up-and-under move, then finished the dizzying display with a spin move that dazzled the Vikings – and most of the other people crammed into the Spartans’ gym.

Wyo’s Amaya Stewart (31) and Annie McCaffrey collapse on Northern Lebanon’s Kalyn Harmon. (Tim Macrina photo)

“She took over,” Anders said.

Battistelli’s praise was a little more glowing.

“(She) is one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” he said of Stewart. “In 17 years (of coaching) I can’t think of a post player that good. She is . . . special.”

Stewart went 6-for-6 from the field in the second half and finished with 23 points. She scored more points in the first 20 minutes of the game than Northern Lebanon’s entire team did in 32 minutes.

“She rises to the occasion,” Anders said. “She knows that when we need a basket, that’s the one that we go to.”

Stewart knew to pick it up in the third quarter and her teammates knew to get her the ball.

“Our defense really helped us out in the beginning of the game, when our offense wasn’t clicking right away,” she said. “We did a phenomenal job moving our feet (on defense).”
It wasn’t just Stewart, who blocked four shots and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. It was McCaffrey, who blocked a couple shots and defended the back line along with Stewart. It was the ball-hawking Audrey Hurleman out front and guards Alexis Hardy and Kacey Maggs, who tied the ball up on the wings and in the backcourt before the Vikings could get in position to score.

“We got some shots,” Battistelli said, “but even when we penetrated . . . (Stewart was) in there.”

As they have done all season the Spartans kept their eye on the prize. It was obvious, even in the early minutes, they were going to win handily. That didn’t get sucked into that mindset, though.

“The bottom line is making sure they’re locked in and focused, and that’s what they were,” Anders said. “They knew what they needed to do.

“We had one job and we needed to get it done,” Stewart said. “It was a matter of staying within ourselves, keeping our poise, and playing for all 32 minutes.”

Northern Lebanon became the eighth team Wyomissing has held below 20 points this season. Maybe that’s why McCaffrey wasn’t all that impressed with the final score.

“As long as we get that win,” she said. “It’s an amazing feeling. I can’t wait for that final.”

Wyo’s Karly Hyde, left, and Alexis Hardy pressure Northern Lebanon’s Olivia Shutter. (Tim Macrina photo)

	1	2	3	4	Final
Northern Lebanon	8	3	4	0	15
Wyomissing	12	9	17	7	45

Vikings (19-6)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Phillips	1-4	1-2	0-0	0	4	3
Miller	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	0
Shutter	2-13	1-2	0-6	0	2	5
Sherosky	1-6	0-0	1-4	1	0	3
Weimer	1-4	0-0	0-1	1	1	2
Harmon	1-2	0-2	0-0	0	1	2
Harris	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Zerman	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Martino	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals	6-32	2-6	1-12	2	12/19	15

Spartans (27-0)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Hardy	0-3	0-0	0-1	2	2	0
Hurleman	5-7	0-2	0-0	1	4	10
McCaffrey	1-5	0-0	0-1	3	4	2
Maggs	3-4	0-1	1-2	3	4	7
Stewart	10-15	3-4	0-1	1	11	23
Hyde	1-3	1-1	0-0	1	1	3
Anders	0-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Noey	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Loeb	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Campbell	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Buckley	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
DeLucas	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Madrak	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	20-42	4-8	1-6	11	27/31	45

Turnovers: Northern Lebanon 16, Wyomissing 12. Team rebounds: Northern Lebanon 7, Wyomissing 4.