Wyomissing, Reading High set to battle for Berks Girls League championship

By  Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

The Berks Girls League playoff field is down to two.

The Wyomissing Spartans and Reading High Red Knights will battle for the BCIAA championship Friday at 6 at Santander Arena.

The second-seeded Spartans (22-2) outlasted third-seeded Wilson 43-35 in Tuesday’s semifinal behind bigs Amaya Stewart (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Annie McCaffrey (16 points, eight rebounds).

The fourth-seeded Red Knights (14-10) limped into the county playoffs having lost six of seven but have done an about-face since. Reading used a big fourth quarter, outscoring top-seeded Berks Catholic by 12 to shock the Saints 39-33 in the semifinals. It dispatched Brandywine Heights 45-22 in the quarterfinals.

Wyomissing is after its first county title and arguably has one of the best teams in program history. Stewart, a sophomore, has an offer from Temple and leads a crew composed of talented underclassmen and poised upperclassmen. The Spartans have appeared in the county final twice before, losing to Holy Name in 2001 and Berks Catholic in 2021.

Reading High seeks its first county title since 2010 when it defeated Wilson in the championship. It’s the fourth time the Red Knights have been back since, losing to Wilson in 2012 and Gov. Mifflin in 2019 and 2020.

Win or lose, this will be the final game of the season for the Red Knights, who didn’t qualify for the District 3 Tournament. Wyomissing will go into the Class 4A Tournament as the No. 3 seed; it opens at home Feb. 24.

Reading has several players capable of leading the way: Senior Ashanti Chapman, sophomore Yamilex Rodriguez, senior Heaven’Li Franklin, and sophomore Tamyia Collier each have played that role at certain points.

The Franklin-Stewart matchup is one to watch as they are both big, strong, and athletic. Stewart may hold a speed/skill advantage but most teams don’t have the luxury of having an opposing big capable of slowing her down as the Red Knights do.

Stewart averages 15.2 points and Franklin 8.3; both typically find themselves with double-digit rebounds.

Both sides have a plethora of guards who can score and disrupt the game defensively. 

Rodriguez (9.6 points per game) leads the Red Knights in scoring; Chapman (7.3) is the engine of the team; Bianca Seabury and Laysha Pimental are outside threat. All get after it defensively, especially so far in these playoffs.

Sophomore Alexis Hardy (8.2) is Wyomissing’s second-leading scorer and shares ballhandling duties with senior Maddie Campbell. Senior Lexi Loeb (6.5) has hit 115 3-pointers in her career. Junior Abby Zechman (5.0) has proven to be a valuable piece off the bench.

The difference could come down to which forwards make the biggest impact. McCaffrey’s 16 points were crucial in the Spartans’ semifinal victory. The junior is averaging 7.9 points. Sophomore Audrey Hurleman can completely take over a game defensively; if she chips in a few buckets offensively it’s a good sign for Wyomissing.

Reading has multiple options it could use to try and neutralize McCaffrey in Janitza Hernandez-Albino, Elyssa Spring, Collier, Naomi Hopkins, and Zaniaya Bradley. That group will also need to help Franklin slow down Stewart.

The Red Knights’ bench came up big in the semifinals, outscoring Berks Catholic’s bench 17-0.

Reading has been hot from 3-point land of late; it hit five against Berks Catholic and four against Brandywine Heights in the quarterfinals.

Rodriguez (20 3’s), Seabury (19), Pimental (15), and Chapman (14) have all been hitting from deep lately. Reading has made 79 3’s this season.

Wyomissing hit four 3’s — all by Loeb — in its quarterfinal blowout over Exeter and didn’t hit any in the win over Wilson. Wyomissing has made 83 3’s this season, 49 from Loeb.

The Red Knights use an aggressive man-to-man, full-court defense while the Spartans use an in-your-face, odd-front zone with Stewart’s presence on the backend.

The teams have played six common opponents, all from Berks County: Brandywine Heights, Conrad Weiser, Daniel Boone, Exeter, Muhlenberg, and Wilson.

Reading High has gone 6-2 against that competition with both losses coming to Wilson; Wyomissing went 6-0. In those games the Red Knights averaged 46.3 points and allowed 33.3. The Spartans scored 56.5 and allowed 29.7.

For the season, Wyomissing has averaged 52.1 points and allowed 28.1; Reading has averaged 46.0 and allowed 42.8.