Will everyone be chasing Gov. Mifflin in Berks girls basketball again this season?
Here’s a breakdown of the Berks Girls League, from top to bottom:
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The defending champions
Gov. Mifflin (17-9)
Gov. Mifflin won the BCIAA title last season with a 47-34 victory over Wilson and returns its top three scorers: Taylor Koenig, Shakyla Mayo, and Anyah Ortiz.
The Mustangs scored over 50 points per game and deployed a heavy barrage of 3-pointers, which figures to continue this season.
Koenig, who impressed with her Lady Running Rebels AAU squad in the offseason, led the team with a 12.9 scoring average and hit 48 3’s, second-most in the league. Koenig will be sidelined with a knee injury to begin the season but is expected to return at some point, Gov. Mifflin head coach Mike Clark said.
Mayo earned All-Berks honors and hit the game-winning bucket in a 41-40 semifinal victory over Berks Catholic to get back her team to the county championship. She averaged 11.8 points per game and hit 32 3’s.
Ortiz handles the guard duties with Mayo; she averaged 10.2 points per game and made 24 3’s last season.
Senior 5-8 forward Jayla Richardson and 6-1 center Payton Witman give the Mustangs size and experience. Senior guards Alyssa Siltzer and Kim Eustache and junior Keira Estrada provide depth off the bench.
Gov. Mifflin will certainly miss all-division selection Elisa Fiore and Shyanna Mayo. If the Mustangs successfully navigate Koenig’s injury until she returns, expect them to be right back at the top of Berks I and gearing up for a county playoff run and District 3 appearance once February rolls around.
The Mustangs have won five of the last eight county championships: 2022, 2020, 2019, 2016, and 2015.
Top challengers
Berks Catholic (21-7)
If any Berks team can rival Gov. Mifflin’s success over the past decade, it’s the Saints.
Berks Catholic has won three of the last six county championships: 2021, 2018, and 2017. Either the Saints or the Mustangs have won the county title in each of the past eight seasons.
In the past decade the Saints have also appeared in the final in 2016, 2015, and 2013.
The Saints were the only Berks team to reach a district championship game last season and played all the way into March before losing by two to Lake Lehman in the first round of the PIAA Tournament.
Berks Catholic led the league in point differential (plus-13.4), free throws, and free throw percentage.
Basketball fans are lucky the Saints and Mustangs are guaranteed to match up at least twice as division opponents. Berks Catholic defeated Gov. Mifflin by 17 and five in the two regular season games before falling by one to the Mustangs in the Berks semifinals.
Berks Player of the Year Caroline Reedy has graduated but three-year starter Caraline Herb returns.
Herb led Berks with 49 3-pointers last season and enters the season with 704 career points.
Key contributors Mackenzie Gordos and Aaliyah Gabney have also graduated. Returning senior and two-year starter Sydney Brown, junior guards Gianna Roberts and Mackenzie Langdon, and sophomores Madison Langdon, Sydney Corado, and Molly McFadden give longtime head coach Bob Birmingham plenty of options to tinker with as the season goes on.
Reading High (13-11)
The Red Knights rebounded last season with a big playoff run after finishing 6-10 and missing the Berks playoffs in 2021. They knocked off 20-1 Schuylkill Valley in the Berks League quarterfinals and took Wilson to the brink in the county semifinals before losing, 37-34
Reading High won three straight to end the regular season, including a 12-point win over Gov. Mifflin in their regular season finale and a 10-point win over second-seeded Schuylkill Valley at Leesport in the Berks quarterfinsals.
All-Berks selection and leading scorer Kya Washinigton (13 points per game) has graduated, along with fellow starters Meyshaylee Bonilla and Mariselys Ortiz-Gonzalez.
All-Division senior guard Ashanti Chapman (7.6 average) and skilled sophomore scorer Yamilex Rodriguez (7.9) return as the Red Knights continue their quest to win their first county championship since 2010.
Reading has been close recently, losing in the 2019 and 2020 finals to Gov. Mifflin.
Sharpshooting senior Laysha Pimentel, key defenders sophomore Tamyia Collier and senior Janitza Hernandez, and junior slasher Naomi Hopkins, who transferred from Antietam, will be tasked with contributing roles.
Jayleeah Tiburcio, another Antietam transfer, averaged a team-best 8.1 points last season with the Mounts.
Wilson (17-7)
The Bulldogs must replace four starters from last season’s Berks League runner-up: Keira Levengood (9.3 average), Amiyah Nguyen (7.8), Gia Borelli (6.3), and Kelsey Moschak (4.1).
The good news: Leading scorer and 6-3 post presence Isis Dojan, who averaged 11.1 points, returns for her senior season.
There’s a lot of offensive production to replace but the biggest key is rebuilding a defense that allowed a Berks-low 34.8 points per game last year.
Dojan, an All-Berks selection, is a great place to start and will be eager to get the Bulldogs back to the county title game. Junior Jaslyn Moncada, who appeared in all 24 games last season, and senior Elyse Robinson will bring experience to a suddenly young team.
Freshman Laila Jones takes over at the point and three other freshmen will see significant time: guard Laura Crocona, 5-10 forward Violet Houck, and 5-10 forward Emma Williams.
Wilson also appeared in the county championship in 2017 (a loss to Berks Catholic) and last won in 2014 over Fleetwood, capping a three-peat.
Wyomissing (13-10)
Watch out for the Spartans, who return every starter from last season’s district quarterfinalist.
The combination of upperclassmen leaders and talented underclassmen has Wyomissing eager to match the potential that Lily Seyfert, Abby Doyle, and Ava Gehman reached when they took the Spartans to the county final in 2021.
Guards Maddie Campbell and Lexi Loeb played on that county finalist team as sophomores; now they’re the senior leaders of a bunch of skilled younger teammates.
Sophomore Amaya Stewart is an inside force who led the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game as a freshman and garnered all-division honors. Speedy sophomore guard Lexi Hardy averaged 7.4 points per game, second on the team. Disruptive sophomore defender Audrey Hurleman also returns.
Seniors Julia Reber and Kaitlyn Brunner, junior Abby Zechman, and sophomores Lili Marshall and Bailey Loeb will contribute off the bench.
The Spartans are deep, talented, reloaded and hope to insert themselves into the conversation with their Berks I acquaintances.
Don’t sleep on . . .
Brandywine Heights (18-8)
First-year head coach Jason Bieber inherits four returning starters, spearheaded by dynamo 5-11 sophomore guard Addison Benner, an all-division pick as a freshman when she averaged 14.1 points per game. The Bullets are the clear favorites to repeat in Berks IV.
Fleetwood (11-10)
Kansas State commit and three-time All-Berks pick Alexis Hess begins the final season of a spectacular career with the Tigers. She reached the 1K point threshold last season, returning from injury to average 19 points per game.
Team success will likely result in Hess’ first Player of the Year selection. Hess and the Tigers made the Berks and district playoffs in 2020 and 2021 before missing out on both last year. How far can they go this year?
Oley Valley (10-12)
Two of the top players in the division return for the Lynx in juniors Ryanne Wheeler (12.6 points per game) and Morgan Snyder (13.2). Wheeler is getting Division III looks; Snyder is a Penn State field hockey commit.
If the handful of other dual-sport, athletic returnees replace the production of three graduated starters Oley Valley can make a push for the Berks IV title.
Twin Valley (16-11)
Head coach Doug Myer, now in his second season in Elverson, led the Raiders to a Berks II title and two wins in the District 3 Class 5A tournament.
All-Berks maestro Natali Foster and all-division selections Anna Kaplan and Rachel Knight have graduated. Temple lacrosse commit Sarah Gowman is out for the year with a knee injury. Can Twin Valley repeat in a Berks II, where there’s no clear favorite?
Schuylkill Valley (20-4)
A 20-win team in the “Don’t Sleep On Us” section? Crazy. Unfortunately a big graduation hit that saw All-Berks pick Madison Ziska and all-division selections Jadyn Heck-Hoppes and Lekaiah Solomon move on is the reason.
Fortunately, reigning Berks Coach of the Year Jason Bagenstose and all-division junior guard Natane White are back to run the show. The Panthers went 11-0 in Berks III last season and had the No. 2 seed in the county playoffs before being taken out by Reading High in the quarterfinals.
Hoping to move up
Conrad Weiser (7-15)
Three starters must be replaced but talented sophomores in Alex Trevena and Sidney Spang should make the Scouts competitive in wide-open Berks II.
Exeter (2-19)
Moving from Berks I to Berks II will help the Eagles be more competitive, as will the return of the third-leading Berks scorer, Grace Reedy.
Hamburg (9-13)
Experienced bunch, led by senior point guard Anabel Kennedy, aims to improve on last season’s win total in competitive division.
Kutztown (3-19)
Berks scoring leader Ky Brantley (19.4 per game) returns along with seven others hoping to push the Cougars out of the Berks IV basement.
Muhlenberg (5-17)
Four starters return for first-year head coach Westley Giddens, including one of Berks’ top youngsters: 6-1 sophomore Ryanna Hightower-Prentice.
Tulpehocken (7-14)
The Trojans return two of top three scorers in Breanna Claman and Mahal Ruffner.
Rebuilding
Antietam (1-16)
First-year head coach Tim Rivera’s Mounts have one player from last season’s team returning in sophomore Alyzah Reyes. Rivera will be working to implement his system and build the program.
Daniel Boone (0-20)
First-year head coach Matt Bowe took over a similarly struggling program at Upper Perkiomen and had the Indians in districts by his third season.