By Kevin Kauffman, Berks Girls Basketball correspondent
On a team that can sometimes struggle on offense, Schuylkill Valley senior CC Reali was the spark the Panthers needed Friday night, filling up the stat sheet and getting involved all over the court.
That leadership allowed SV to cruise to a 51-23 league crossover victory over Tulpehocken Friday night in Leesport.

“She has really turned it up a notch,” said Panthers head coach Jason Bagenstose. “She is the loose-ball champion. The last three weeks, the light bulb has gone off. We always make her guard one of the other teams’ best players. She is a leader by example and a great teammate.”
Reali finished one rebound shy of a double-double to go along with her 12 points, four assists, and five steals as the Panthers (6-1 Berks III, 10-6 overall) won their fourth straight game and sixth out of their last seven following a 4-5 start to the season. The victory pulls them within a half game of division-leading Wyomissing.
“In the beginning it was going to be a little rocky because we lost four starters from last year,” said Reali, a third-year starter. “Now I think it’s starting to come together, our hard work is definitely paying off and we are starting to see things connect more.”
The Panthers jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, capped off when sophomore Hannah West took a steal and went coast-to-coast for a lay-in; she finished with a game-high 14 points. Meanwhile the defense forced seven Trojan turnovers in the opening quarter as SV built a 12-5 lead after 8:00.
Tulpehocken (2-5 Berks IV, 5-10 overall) cut into the lead in the second quarter behind leading scorer Avery Baransky. The senior was responsible for all the Trojans’ scoring in the first half and her two free throws got her team within 13-9 with about 2:00 to play before the half.
Up to that point, the Panthers had missed their first eight field goals of the quarter. That’s when Reali stepped up with her own personal 7-0 run in the final 1:32, sandwiching a 3-pointer between two strong layups to stretch the cushion to 20-9 heading into the locker room.

“Those driving layups, she only started doing that regularly about three weeks ago, and the results show,” said Bagenstose. “She was relying a little bit more on 3s, and now she’s driving and finishing at the rim, and we are so proud of her.”
The Panthers steadily pulled away in the second half. Junior Elyssa Sellers, the team’s leading scorer for the season, scored eight of her 10 points after the break. Teammate Amelia Falsone was held scoreless, but corralled a game-high 10 rebounds to round out the balanced Panther attack that could be hitting its stride with just five games remaining before the BCIAA playoffs.
“I know sometimes our team has to focus a little bit more,” said Reali. ”I can lead by my example – if I am trying my hardest, it can rub off on the other players.”
That leadership will be important as Schuylkill Valley aims to claim a playoff berth next month. The Panthers get a shot at Wyomissing next Tuesday and will likely lock up a bid as the Berks III/IV runner-up if they can beat Oley Valley on January 27.
As of the publishing of this article, Schuylkill Valley is No. 11 in the District 3 Class 4A power rankings. The top 10 teams qualify for the tournament.

“We are not a high-scoring team,” said Bagenstose. “Our defense has gotten better, we are boxing out well, we are guarding people better. I told the team today, you need to start acting like a playoff team. We have to be consistent, play good defense, and make good decisions on offense.”
“We are focusing more at practice,” said Reali of the team’s playoff surge. “It’s about coming out and taking care of business like we did tonight, proving that we worked hard for it.”
For the Trojans, Baransky finished with a team-high 12 points, while senior Juliet Snyder collected a team-high seven rebounds.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Schuylkill Valley | 12 | 8 | 15 | 16 | 51 |
Tulpehocken | 5 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 23 |
Panthers (6-1, 10-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Rittenhouse | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Yobb | 0-3 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Sellers | 4-11 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Falsone | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
West | 5-12 | 3-4 | 1-5 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
Wickersham | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Reali | 5-9 | 1-3 | 1-5 | 4 | 9 | 12 |
Bitting | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Houser | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Butler | 2-3 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Totals | 19-54 | 9-16 | 4-15 | 7 | 28/32 | 51 |
Trojans (2-5, 5-10) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Kay. Kampe | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Goldberg | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Weaver | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Kat. Kampe | 0-7 | 0-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Baransky | 4-7 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Pugh | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
Snyder | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
Totals | 9-36 | 2-7 | 3-9 | 2 | 20/28 | 23 |
Turnovers: Schuylkill Valley 8, Tulpehocken 19. Team rebounds: Schuylkill Valley 4, Tulpehocken 8.
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