Two-time Player of the Year Amaya Stewart continues to elevate her game
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The best player in the Berks Girls League last year got even better this season.
Wyomissing junior Amaya Stewart continued to elevate her game and raise the ceiling for her team, earning MikeDragoSports.com Berks girls basketball Player of the Year honors for the second straight year.
The award is sponsored by Wyomissing Physical Therapy.
Finalists for the award were Laila Jones of Wilson, Taylor Koenig of Gov. Mifflin, Madison Langdon of Berks Catholic, Annie McCaffrey of Wyomissing, Grace Reedy of Exeter and Morgan Snyder of Oley Valley.
Stewart, a 6-1 post player, was second in the league in scoring at 19.5 points per game and led the Spartans to back-to-back Berks and District 3 championships. Wyomissing became the first Berks team to win its first 31 games and advanced to the PIAA semifinals for just the third time in program history.
Stewart, a Division I recruit with offers from Bethune-Cookman, Maine, Rider, Tampa, and Temple, has upped her scoring each year while expanding her game well beyond the paint.
She averaged 10.5 points per game as a freshman and didn’t make a 3-pointer. She averaged 15.3 points as a sophomore and hit six 3’s. She made 21 3’s this season and took on more ball-handling responsibilities, especially when point guard Alexis Hardy was out for the final two games with a concussion.
Stewart did that while polishing her footwork, finishing, rim protection, and lethal spin move in the post.
“It comes with a tremendous amount of hard work,” Wyomissing head coach Aaron Anders said after the Spartans won their second straight BCIAA title behind Stewart’s 20 points and 13 rebounds. “She just works so hard.”
Stewart followed that performance with games of 25 points and 12 rebounds in the district quarterfinals, 23 and 11 in the semifinals, and 14 and 18 in the district championship.
She overmatched opponents with her combination of size, skill, and relentlessness.
“(She) is one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” Northern Lebanon coach Ken Battistelli said after watching Stewart singlehandedly outscore his team in a 45-15 district semifinal. “In 17 years (of coaching) I can’t think of a post player that good. We got some shots, but even when we penetrated she was in there. She is . . . special.”
In the PIAA Tournament she had games of 14 and 12, 33 and 11, 24 and 17, and 18 and 7. Overall, Stewart averaged 21.7 points and 12.9 rebounds in 10 postseason games.
“Teams try to collapse on her and make her work for it,” Anders said. “Time and time again she gets challenged and rises to the top.”
Stewart was twice selected as Wyomissing Physical Therapy Player of the Week during the regular season and has claimed the award four times overall over two seasons.
She enters her senior season with 1,339 career points, fourth-highest in program history behind Rachel Hoffman (1,886), Adrian Budischak (1,638), and Caitlin Moser (1,497).
Player of the Week selections this season
- Dec. 11: Amaya Stewart, Wyomissing
- Dec. 18: Laila Jones, Wilson
- Dec. 25: Juliana Stichter, Schuylkill Valley
- Jan. 1: Grace Reedy, Exeter
- Jan. 8: Morgan Snyder, Oley Valley
- Jan. 15: Violet Houck, Wilson
- Jan. 22: Taylor Koenig, Gov. Mifflin
- Jan. 29: Yamilex Rodriguez, Reading High
- Feb. 5: Madison Langdon, Berks Catholic
- Feb. 12: Madison Langdon, Berks Catholic
- Feb. 19: Amaya Stewart, Wyomissing
- Feb. 26: Annie McCaffrey, Wyomissing
- March 4: Audrey Hurleman, Wyomissing
