Players to watch in Berks IV girls basketball
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Addison Benner
Brandywine Heights
(Susan L. Angstadt photo)
The 5-11 junior guard burst onto the scene as a freshman, leading the Bullets with a 14.1 scoring average and to a third-place District 3 Class 3A finish and first PIAA state tournament appearance since 1980.
Benner, who plays AAU ball for the Philly-based Lady Runnin Rebels along with Berks Catholic’s Madison Langdon and Gov. Mifflin’s Taylor Koenig, had another successful season last year, averaging 13.2 points.
Benner can get to the basket and hit from 3-point range, although her total 3’s dropped from 39 as a freshman to 16 last year.
She improved her foul shooting by nearly 23 percent, hitting 77 percent.
The Bullets went 15-9, falling in the Berks playoff quarterfinals to Reading High and in the District 3 Class 3A quarterfinals to Pequea Valley.
Benner enters the season with 672 career points, third-most among active Berks girls.
Dana Messner
Oley Valley
(Tim Macrina photo)
The 5-10 senior forward is committed to play softball at Wilkes; turns out she’s pretty darn good at basketball, too.
Messner garnered all-division honors last season while putting up 8.1 points per game and playing in all 22 games for an Oley Valley team that finished 9-3 in division and 15-7 overall.
The Lynx will enter the season motivated after barely missing out on both the Berks and District 3 playoffs.
They have the firepower to get there this year with most key of their key players returning.
Messner is one of the Lynx’s tallest players so she’ll have to provide rim protection and rebounding.
Olivia Moyer
Brandywine Heights
(PhilMarPhoto)
Moyer went down with a torn ACL in the Bullets’ 44-40 loss to Exeter Jan. 14 and didn’t play again.
Bullets head coach Jason Bieber said she is doing well in her recovery and is expected to be back to full strength for her senior season.
Moyer averaged 13.3 points in 15 games. Despite missing the final month of the season Berks coaches voted her to the all-division team. She scored a season-high 19 points against Pope John Paul IV and matched it the next game against Tulpehocken.
The 5-9 guard and backcourt mate Addison Benner complement off each other.
Moyer is key for the Bullets in getting the offense into motion, and she does whatever is asked of her to win. That’s why she’s been a varsity contributor every season of her high school career.
Morgan Snyder
Oley Valley
(Tim Macrina photo)
Snyder is one of four returning All-Berks selections after averaging a team-high 15.9 points for the Lynx as a junior. She scored 20 or more points five times with a season- and career-high 26 against Hamburg.
Snyder enters the season with 667 career points, fourth amongst Berks players.
The 5-6 senior guard scored at a 5.5 clip as a freshman and led the team at 13.2 points per game as a sophomore. The next step is translating that to a Berks playoff appearance, which the Lynx haven’t made since 2019.
Snyder is a Penn State field hockey commit and leads a group of highly athletic returning players who could help Oley Valley reach the postseason.
She was second in scoring on Oley Valley’s PIAA championship field hockey team with 23 goals and 61 points.
Ryanne Wheeler
Oley Valley
(Tim Macrina photo)
Wheeler, yet another stellar athlete on the Lynx roster, is committed to Marywood to play basketball and to run track. (She ran the 100 and 400 last season for Oley.)
Wheeler averaged 10.9 points last season, second on the team. She scored a season-high 20 points against Tulpehocken and had a career-high 22 against Kutztown as a sophomore.
The 5-8 senior guard was an all-division choice last year after hitting a team-high 16 3-pointers.
Wheeler, Moran Snyder, Dana Messner and the Lynx will be gearing to knock Addison Benner, Olivia Moyer and the Bullets out of the top spot in Berks IV.
Other players to watch in Berks IV:
- Avery Baransky, 5-9 junior, Tulpehocken
- Isabella Buehler, 5-9 junior, Oley Valley
- Kourtney Dietrich, 5-9 junior, Kutztown
- Jade Fitzgerald, 5-7 freshman, Kutztown
- Hailey Graham, 5-11 junior, Kutztown
- Airyana Jones, 6-0 junior, Antietam
- Avery Potteiger, 6-0 senior, Brandywine Heights
- Grace Potteiger, 5-9 senior, Brandywine Heights
- Alyzah Reyes, 5-7 junior, Antietam
- Jisyaree Santiago, 5-5 sophomore, Antietam
- Juliet Snyder, 5-9 junior, Tulpehocken
- Dana Wartzenluft, 5-9 senior, Brandywine Heights
