Berks girls hoops notebook: Scoring race, rookie coaches, four of a kind, and more
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The Berks girls basketball scoring race figures to come down to Exeter junior Grace Reedy and Fleetwood senior Alexis Hess.
Reedy is averaging 22.9 points per game for the upstart Eagles, who have won two league games in a row, over Twin Valley and Conrad Weiser. The junior scored 30 points back-to-back games in December, then a carer high, before topping that with 35 against Daniel Boone Dec. 19.
It’s no surprise to see Hess, who is averaging 19.7 points, get buckets; it’s why she’s headed to Kansas State. She has reached 20 points in seven of Fleetwood’s 11 games, including a 22-point performance in front of Kansas State women’s basketball head coach Jeff Mittie Dec. 14.
Here are the other Berks players averaging double figures:
- Oley Valley’s Morgan Snyder (15.1)
- Wyomissing’s Amaya Stewart (14.7)
- Brandywine Heights’ Olivia Moyer (13.3)
- Schuylkill Valley’s Natane White (12.9)
- Brandywine Heights’ Addison Benner (12.8)
- Berks Catholic’s Caraline Herb (12.7)
- Schuylkill Valley’s Juliana Stichter (12.5)
- Twin Valley’s Hailey Kilgore (12.4)
- Wilson’s Laila Jones (11.9)
- Oley Valley’s Ryanne Wheeler (11.8)
- Gov. Mifflin’s Anyah Ortiz (11.7)
- Berks Catholic’s Madison Langdon (11.4)
- Gov. Mifflin’s Shakyla Mayo (10.8)
- Wyomissing’s Alexis Hardy (10.6)
- Reading High’s Yamilex Rodriguez (10.5)
Oley Valley, Brandywine Heights, Schuylkill Valley, Gov. Mifflin and Berks Catholic each have a backcourt duo averaging double figures. Wyomissing has a pair of sophomores on the list. Jones and Kilgore are the lone freshmen.
Kutztown senior Ky Brantley would’ve been in the race had it not been for a knee injury ended her season after three games. She was averaging 27.7 points.
New coaches get first wins
Antietam, Brandywine Heights, Daniel Boone and Muhlenberg each have new coaches this season.
Brandywine’s Jason Bieber and Daniel Boone’s Matt Bowe were already well-versed on the high school girls basketball scene; Bieber won a state title as Boyertown’s head coach and Bowe sparked an impressive turnaround at Upper Perkiomen. Each picked up a win in their season-opener Dec. 2.
First-time head coach Westley Giddens of Muhlenberg got his first win in the Muhls’ fourth game, against Garden Spot. The Muhls have four wins; they won just five all of last season.
Tim Rivera of Antietam, also a rookie head coach, earned his first win in the Mounts’ fourth game, against Octorara. The Mounts won just once last season.
Brawl results in suspensions
Nine players received supplemental disqualifications after a fight broken out during a game between New Castle and Beaver Falls Dec. 30. Six players from Beaver Falls and three from New Castle were each suspended for two games.
WPIC and WLLF radio Sports Director Bob Greenburg tweeted video the incident:
Jekots: Four of a kind
Defending Berks champion Gov. Mifflin got a first-hand look at Universith of Pittsburgh commit and Cumberland Valley junior guard Jill Jekot at the Hempfield Tip-Off Tournament.
Jekot surpassed 1,000 points last Friday, joining her sisters Kelly (Villanova/Penn State), Katie (St. Joe’s), and Julie (Drexel), each of whom reached the scoring milestone.
Jill Jekot scored 29 points against the Mustangs in a 61-19 Eagles victory.
“What can I say about Jekot?” Gov. Mifflin head coach Mike Clark said at the time. “I’ll be glad when she’s gone.”
The Mustangs faced her oldest sister, Kelly, in the District 3 Class 4A championship in 2016. The Eagles won 65-57
“Kelly killed me at Hershey,” Clark recalled. ” I can’t seem to get by the Jekots.”
Nobody in District 3 has been able to.
Berks stars shining
Former Wilson standout Zakiyah Winfield (Buffalo) and Twin Valley standout Peyton McDaniel (James Madison) are having successful seasons at the college level.
Winfield leads the team in scoring (14.8 per game), rebounds (11.2) and steals (1.7) and is second in assists (3.7).
McDaniel is averaging 10.8 points and 4.2 rebounds as the first player off the bench for the Dukes (14-2). Lancaster Catholic grad Kiki Jefferson leads the team in scoring at 18 points per game.
