‘Captain Chaos’ fronts another strong defensive effort for unbeaten Wyo girls

By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

YORK — Wyomissing’s girls basketball team held its opponents to a Berks-low 26.5 points per game over its first eight games.

Defense again was the key Tuesday as the Spartans defeated District 3 power York Catholic 55-45 in a non-league game to keep their undefeated season intact.

Sophomore Audrey Hurleman fronted the defensive attack. She picked up four steals, tipped countless passes, and secured 12 rebounds as the Spartans (9-0) slowed down the Irish (5-2), who had been outscoring opponents by over 15 points.

“I take defense as my strong point of the game,” said Hurleman. “I feel like getting these steals and these rebounds benefits our offensive players to put up a (good) shot. It really makes me feel better as a player when I see that.”

As the top cog in the Spartans’ zone defense, Hurleman is aggressive and relentless hounding ballhandlers. Her length and athleticism frustrate opponents and cause disruption, notably tipped passes that don’t allow any flow to the offense.

“She absolutely just disrupts,” Wyomissing head coach Aaron Anders said. “Audrey just makes people miserable. We call her ‘Captain Chaos’ because she makes it next-to-impossible to start an offense.”

“It’s definitely tiring,” Hurleman said. “But I find that a lot of fun. When coach is like ‘Get up there, you got this,’ it definitely gives me a spark and I want to go hard to benefit my team.”

York Catholic’s top scorer and point guard Mariah Shue was held to five points and the Irish committed 21 turnovers as a result.

The Irish shot 29% from the field and 18% from 3-point range.

York Catholic has won 13 District 3 championships, more than all but Lebanon Catholic (20), Lancaster Catholic (19) and Trinity (17).

It won 10 straight Class 2A championships from 2006-15, won a 3A title in 2017 and have reached to the past two 3A title games.

“It was a little intimidating walking in here,” Hurleman said of the Irish’s gym.

“You’re talking about serious tradition here and, (Catholic head coach Kevin Bankos) is a class act and a really good coach,” Anders said. “When you beat a team like that it feels good.”

Hurleman’s fellow sophomores Amaya Stewart (13 points) and Alexis Hardy (eight points) shouldered the scoring load in the first half as the Spartans built a 30-15 lead.

With Stewart falling into foul trouble, junior Annie McCaffrey picked up the scoring with nine points in the third quarter as Wyomissing pushed its lead to 50-26.

York Catholic made a push in the fourth, outscoring the Spartans 19-5, but it was too late.

Stewart finished with 15 points to lead the Spartans; Hardy and McCaffrey each had 10. Meredith Smith had 17 and Paige O’Brien 13 to lead York Catholic.

“We work well together as a team and move as a pack up and down the court,” Hurleman said. “When one person does something well, everyone’s there to cheer them on. That pushes people to want to do better for their team and succeed as a team.”

York Catholic’s championship basketball banners hung visibly from the rafters on its home court. Wyomissing’s preseason goals were to win championships of its own. Good thing defense wins them.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Wyomissing	15	15	20	5	55
York Catholic	10	5	11	19	45

Spartans (9-0)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Stewart	7-9	0-0	1-2	1	8	15
Hardy	4-6	2-4	0-0	3	3	10
L. Loeb	0-6	0-0	0-6	1	0	0
McCaffrey	3-8	4-6	0-0	1	9	10
Hurleman	2-3	1-8	0-0	1	12	5
Zechman	3-4	0-0	1-2	1	1	7
Campbell	3-4	0-0	0-0	1	2	6
Marshall	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	2
Brunner	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0
B. Loeb	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	23-42	7-18	2-10	12	35-37	55

Irish (5-2)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Shue	1-15	2-8	1-11	1	2	5
O’Brien	3-10	5-6	2-7	2	4	13
Bullen	0-1	1-2	0-0	0	6	1
Smith	6-12	4-7	1-2	2	5	17
Reed	1-4	0-0	0-1	1	4	2
McKeague	2-3	1-2	0-1	2	1	5
Kury	1-4	0-1	0-0	0	1	2
Perry	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	14-49	13-26	4-22	8	23-25	45

Turnovers: York Catholic 21, Wyomissing 22.