Young Bulldogs stay perfect, knock off Saints in early Berks I showdown
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Wilson had gone 1-5 against Berks Catholic since the Saints moved into Division I of the Berks Girls League for the 2020-21 season.
Jasilyn Moncada was a sophomore on the lone Wilson team that beat Berks Catholic in league play two seasons ago; now she’s the experienced senior on a team filled with a talented sophomore class.
The Bulldogs defeated the defending division champ Saints 43-31 Friday night in a Berks Girls League matchup in West Lawn to keep their perfect start intact and get league play started with a resounding win.
“It’s been a great experience,” Moncada said of playing with a slew of younger teammates. “We have great chemistry and have a lot of returning players from last year who are younger, but even with that, I think we’re all embracing the leadership roles.”
Moncada has been on the varsity roster four seasons and was a freshman during Wilson head coach Chris Gallo’s first season. She’s one of only two seniors on the roster this year.
“It’s good to have somebody that has seen all the ups and downs and knows how I might react to things,” Gallo said of Moncada. “She’s not the most vocal, but she’s always going to work hard. She’s that quiet leader and she knows when to get the troops together.”
Moncada is joined in the Wilson starting lineup with four sophomores: All-Berks Laila Jones, Violet Houck, Laura Crocona, and Emma Williams. Another sophomore, Janai Tisdale, didn’t play Friday but is typically the first player off the bench.
“It’s good we have ‘Jazzy’ because she’s a leader and has been here a while,” Jones said of Moncada. “Even though there are a bunch of leaders on this team, we still look up to her and we follow her lead.”
There’s a reason Moncada has gotten varsity minutes since she was a freshman. She digs down defensively and picks her spots offensively when needed; nothing is forced. The main objective is winning.
Some players would feel slighted to have a bunch of underclassmen cutting into their playing time. Not Moncada.
“Our chemistry is what is allowing us to be where we are,” Moncada said of the Bulldogs 5-0 start. “We just continue working hard in the gym, helping each other out and supporting each other. That showed tonight when we all played together and came out with the win.”
The sophomores got a ton of playing time last season and started to show signs of their potential once Houck, a 5-11 post, fully recovered from an injury late in the season. That experience was invaluable: The Bulldogs don’t play like a young, mistake-prone team. They responded from an onslaught by Berks Catholic’s Madison Langdon in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs fell behind 13-8 after Langdon scored all the Saints’ points, including three 3’s.
Gallo switched to a zone defense and the Bulldogs outscored the Saints 8-2 in the second quarter to take the lead into halftime.
Jones dropped nine of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter as the Bulldogs built a double-digit lead. Berks Catholic (1-1, 2-3) was outscored 23-4 over the middle quarters.
“They played tougher in the first quarter,” Jones said. “We knew that wasn’t enough so we had to come back out and show them who we are.”
Jones had 12 rebounds and Houck had eight points and six rebounds.
The Bulldogs went 9-3 in Berks I and 15-9 overall last season but played county and district champion Wyomissing tough in the BCIAA semifinals. They finished second in the division behind Berks Catholic, then narrowly missed qualifying for the district playoffs.
“We want to make it to the county playoffs again,” Moncada said. “And make it further into districts since we just missed out last year.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson | 8 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 43 |
| Berks Catholic | 13 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 31 |
| Bulldogs (5-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Jones | 8-16 | 4-4 | 4-7 | 2 | 12 | 24 |
| Houck | 2-4 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Moncada | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Crocona | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Williams | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Leaman | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Evans | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peacock | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 15-37 | 8-10 | 5-13 | 9 | 29/31 | 43 |
| Saints (2-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Mad. Langdon | 5-18 | 2-2 | 3-9 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| Corado | 3-14 | 0-0 | 2-9 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Mirenda | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| G. Roberts | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Linderman | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| McFadden | 2-4 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Mac. Langdon | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 10-48 | 6-8 | 5-30 | 4 | 23/27 | 31 |
Turnovers: Wilson 11, Berks Catholic 8. Team Rebounds: Wilson 2, Berks Catholic 4.
