PIAA Tournament preview: Wilson (24-4) vs. Conestoga (24-3)
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
What: Class 6A, first round
When: Friday, 7:00
Where: Conestoga High, Berwyn
About the Pioneers (1-3)
Finished third in District 1 after losing to Spring-Ford in the semifinals and beating North Penn in the third-place game. It was their first trip to the district semifinals since 1979.
“Our success is because of our cohesiveness and the way we play together,” Conestoga head coach AJ Thompson said. “The girls are super-unselfish.”
Thompson had a one-year stint as the Kutztown Cougars’ girls coach in 2015-16 before gigs on the coaching staff at Neumann University and as head coach at Phoenixville.
He took over as the Pioneers in the 2018-19 season and the team finished with a combined 18-39 record his first three years. Then the current senior class arrived.
“We have great senior leadership from girls that have been in the program,” Thompson said. “Some have been four-year starters. It’s been a steady climb.”
That class went 13-8 as sophomores and 22-8 last season, leading to a Central League runner-up finish, District 1 11th-place finish, and a PIAA appearance.
They won another Central League silver medal and District 1 bronze this year.
University of Scranton commit and 5-7 senior point guard Marisa Francione is the leader of the team and averages 7.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. She was named to the All-Central League first team.
Senior twins Katrina Valencia, a 5-5 guard, and Isabella Valencia, a 5-8 wing, are also four-year starters. Bench piece Arielle Lepage is the fourth senior captain.
The arrival of Janie Preston two years ago and Ryann Jennings last season has pushed this team’s potential even higher.
Jennings, 5-11 sophomore wing, leads the team with 17.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, won Central League MVP and has a slew of Division I offers, most recently picking one up from Drexel.
“I think she’s really just scratching the surface of what type of player she can be,” Thompson said.
“She’s a great shooter, a strong rebounder. I think her off-the-dribble and midrange games have a chance to be really, really good. She’s just ultra-competitive.”
Preston, a 6-1 junior forward, is second on the team with 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds.
“We look at those three (Jennings, Preston, and Francione) as our scorers and count on them to get a big chunk of our points,” Thompson said. “Then we have a couple of kids coming off the bench like Ruth Lanouette, Maggie Neary, and Libby Brown who we look to add in all the extra stuff and dirty work.”
Lanouette is a junior wing and averages 5.0 points per game, fourth on the team. Neary has played in all 27 games and Brown in 24, both are sophomore guards.
Conestoga has allowed 40 or more points to opponents in only five games this season and mixes up its defensive strategy between man and zone depending on the opponent.
“Defensively is where they’ve hung their hats all season,” Thompson said. “We talked about how we thought we’d be able to score on people in the preseason, but the question was how good can we be defensively. It was an emphasis all summer and they really bought into it.”
Offensively, the Pioneers try to spread the ball around and play up-tempo but will slow the pace down if needed.
“Ryann does score a bunch and Janie will have games where she gets in the 20s, but I think our strength is our overall unselfishness,” Thompson said. “We’re constantly looking for the next great shot and that’s been our identity all season.”
Conestoga started the season 20-1 and has gone 4-2 down the stretch. Wilson started 23-1 before sputtering to 1-3 with losses in the Berks championship, District 3 semifinals, and third-place game. They enter the state tournament as a No. 4 seed.
Sophomore 5-7 guard Laila Jones (16.2) and sophomore 5-11 post Violet Houck (10.1) form a premier inside-out duo for the Bulldogs, and the emergence of freshman 5-9 wing Kailani Hardy (7.0 points per game) gives Bulldogs head coach Chris Gallo another weapon.
“(Jones) is a really solid player,” Thompson said. “It looks like she’s the leader of that team as far as scoring goes. And they’ve got some really good pieces around her. (Houck) is a really good rebounder and does the dirty work. Anytime you can get to 20 wins, it’s a huge accomplishment.”
Senior guard Jasilyn Moncada, sophomore guard Laura Crocona, sophomore center Emma Williams, sophomore guard Janai Tisdale, and freshman guard Ryan Leaman also play key roles for a Bulldogs team that allows only 33.5 points while scoring 49.3.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Thompson said. “I think it’s going to be a good game and we’re going to have to play our best to come out on top.”
The winner will play either (12-1) Archbishop Carroll or (1-11) West Chester Henderson in the second round Tuesday.
