Girls Hoop Notes: Eagle on the cusp of history, epic comeback, D3 picture dim

By  Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

The eight-team Berks Girls League playoff field is set and the basketball season suddenly nears its conclusion.

Let’s take a look at some notable tidbits as Berks Catholic, Brandywine Heights, Exeter, Gov. Mifflin, Reading High, Schuylkill Valley, Wilson, and Wyomissing await to find out the BCIAA quarterfinals schedule and the rest of the teams looks toward next season.

Reedy on verge of history

Grace Reedy could become the first Exeter girl to lead Berks in scoring, and the program’s first All-Berks pick since Jen Eck in 2015. 

Exeter athletic director Tom Legath and Jean Frey, the Eagles’ first coach, could not recall an Exeter girl leading the conference in scoring.

Reedy, a junior, is averaging a Berks-high 22.5 points per game and has 885 points in her career. Only three Exeter girls have scored 1,000 points: Cortney Crockett (1,389 in 2006), Donna Luft (1,146 in 1987), and Eck (1,099 in 2015).

Top playoff scorers

The top scorers on each Berks playoff qualifier: 

• Exeter: Grace Reedy (22.5)
• Wyomissing: Amaya Stewart (14.9)
• Berks Catholic: Caraline Herb (14.6)
• Brandywine Heights: Addison Benner (13.4)
• Wilson: Laila Jones (13.3)
• Schuylkill Valley: Natane White (12.9)
• Gov. Mifflin: Taylor Koenig (12.2)
• Reading High: Yamilex Rodriguez (9.9)

Other top scorers playing in the postseason include: Schuylkill Valley’s Juliana Stichter (12.2), Gov. Mifflin’s Shakyla Mayo (11.5), Berks Catholic’s Madison Langdon (11.4), Gov. Mifflin’s Anyah Ortiz (10.9), Wilson’s Violet Houck (9.1), Reading High’s Heaven’Li Franklin (8.4), and Wyomissing’s Alexis Hardy (8.4).

Houck, a 5-10 freshman center, has played in five games — all victories — since returning from an early season injury for the Bulldogs.

Brandywine will be without point guard Olivia Moyer (13.3), who is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Comeback kids

Schuylkill Valley’s chances of getting back into the county playoffs looked dim after falling behind Hamburg 16-0 after the first quarter Monday. Amelia Gassert scored 16 first-half points for the Hawks, who took a 27-14 lead into halftime.

Natane White scored 13 of her 18 points and Juliana Stichter 12 of her 14 in the second half as the Panthers stormed back to win 40-33.

A loss would’ve knocked the Panthers out of the Berks playoffs; they buckled down when they needed to most, outscoring Hamburg 14-0 in the fourth quarter.

Streaking into the playoffs

Some teams concluded the regular season on hot streaks; others limped to the finish line.

Berks Catholic is on a six-game winning streak and has won 12-of-13. The Saints’ last loss came on Jan. 21 to Lancaster Catholic (20-1).

Wilson has won five in a row and 8-of-9. The Bulldogs’ last loss was to Berks Catholic on Jan. 23.

Wyomissing won four in a row and Exeter three in a row. Tulpehocken won its last three games after a 1-18 start.

Antietam is on the longest losing streak at 18 games followed by Daniel Boone (17), Hamburg (6), Kutztown (4), and Conrad Weiser (3).

Among Berks playoff teams, Gov. Mifflin has lost two straight and three of four. Reading High broke a six-game skid with a victory over Muhlenberg Monday.

Looking back

Here’s how the county playoffs played out last season:

Quarterfinals: No. 1 Berks Catholic def. No. 8 Wyomissing 52-36, No. 4 Gov. Mifflin defeated No. 5 Brandywine Heights 70-58, No. 7 Reading High defeated No. 2 Schuylkill Valley 43-33, and No. 3 Wilson defeated No. 6 Twin Valley 42-24.

Semifinals: No. 4 Gov. Mifflin defeated No. 1 Berks Catholic 41-40 and No. 3 Wilson defeated No. 7 Reading High 37-34.

The Mustangs defeated Wilson 47-34 for the county title.

Berks Catholic (12-0 Berks I, 17-5) repeated as Berks I champion and again looms as the top seed. The Saints went 11-1 in Berks I and 21-7 overall last season.

Exeter (7-4 Berks II, 11-11) won the Berks II title after going 2-19 last year. The Eagles return to the county postseason for the first time since 2015.

Wyomissing (11-0 Berks III, 20-2) won a division title after going 13-10 last season, when it entered the Berks playoffs as the Division III-IV runner-up.

Brandywine Heights (9-3 Berks IV, 15-7) repeated as division champs; the Bullets went 11-1, 18-8 last season.

Wilson (9-3 Berks I, 14-8) earned the Berks I-II runner-up spot for the second season in a row. The Bulldogs went 10-2, 17-7 last year.

Schuylkill Valley (7-4 Berks III, 10-10) returns to the postseason, this time as the Berks III-IV runner-up. The Panthers won Berks III with 11-0 and 20-4 marks last year.

Reading High (7-5 Berks I, 12-10) again received an at-large berth; it qualified with a 13-11 record last season.

Gov. Mifflin (8-4 Berks I, 10-12) also made the field based on power rating for the second season in a row. The defending county champs went 8-4 in Berks I and finished 17-9 overall last year.

District qualifiers scarce

According to the latest power ratings posted on the District 3 website Berks Catholic (No. 2 in 4A) and Wyomissing (No. 3 in 4A) are the only Berks teams within the playoff bubble.

Brandywine Heights (3A), Exeter (5A), and Wilson (6A) are each one spot out in their respective classifications.

Berks Catholic, Brandywine Heights, Gov. Mifflin, Schuylkill Valley, Twin Valley, Wilson and Wyomissing qualified for districts last season. The Saints, Bullets, and Raiders made the state tournament.

Team stats

Wyomissing (52.2) finished the regular season as the league’s highest-scoring team; Berks Catholic (50.1), Gov. Mifflin (46.4), Reading High (46.3), and Oley Valley (46.0) are next.

The Spartans also allowed the fewest points (27.9) per game, followed by: Oley Valley (29.5), Brandywine Heights (29.8), Wilson (35.0), and Schuylkill Valley (36.5).

The top five in point differential: Wyomissing (+24.4), Oley Valley (+16.5), Berks Catholic (+11.2), Brandywine Heights (+11.0), and Wilson (+7.7).