In a high-stakes, competitive game marred by an on-court fight that resulted in six players being ejected in the third quarter, Wilson regrouped just enough to defeat Reading High 46-45 Thursday night in West Lawn.
Physical jostling for a rebound between two players turned into punches being thrown and the players wrestling each other to the ground. Players and coaches ran from the bench, some getting involved while others attempted to break it up. Play halted with 1:22 left in the third quarter and Wilson holding a 36-33 lead.
A roughly 10-minute stoppage in play ended with four Reading High players and two Wilson players being ejected from the game for participating in the fight.
When the dust finally settled, Laura Crocona scored eight of her 10 points in the third quarter and freshman Jade Lee had six of her eight points in the fourth to secure an important Berks I victory for Wilson, which took sole possession of the Berks I lead.
Lee, a freshman, found herself on the court playing vital minutes in crunch time following the ejections and made the most of the opportunity.

"When she's in the game, she makes a lot happen," Wilson head coach Matt Raquet said of Lee, who scored six of the team's eight points in the final quarter. "She gets rebounds and putbacks and she's in the right place at the right time offensively. That's what she did in the fourth quarter, in a hectic atmosphere."
If the Bulldogs (9-2, 14-6) defeat Muhlenberg next Monday, they'll win back-to-back division titles for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
"It would be really nice to win the division title and go back to back," Raquet said. "The kids have continued to earn it throughout the season and continue to get better within the system. We had some growing pains early, but they've stayed together, focused on their development, and worked together as a group."
Wilson has won four in a row and nine of its last 10. After a 1-2 start in league play and 2-4 start overall, they Bulldogs have won eight consecutive league games and gone 12-2 since.
Both teams started the game in tough man-to-man defense and traded leads thrice before settling on a 9-8 Reading High lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Red Knights (8-3, 14-7) took multiple four-point leads in the second quarter, but each time Kailani Hardy had an answer for the Bulldogs.
After Yamilex Rodriguez's free throws put Reading up 14-10, Hardy made a driving layup and banked in a 3-pointer to give Wilson the lead with 4:55 remaining.

A steal by Rodriguez leading to Xiani Beatty's deuce put the Red Knights up 20-16 before Hardy finished two consecutive contested layups to tie it.
Kailani Ocasio converted a lefty runner with 46 seconds left to put Reading up 26-22 and Hardy responded with another acrobatic layup with 30 seconds left. Beatty hit a free throw with 16.8 seconds left and Hardy finished at the rim once again to cut Reading's lead to 27-26 at halftime.
Wilson switched to a 1-3-1 zone and Reading to a 2-3 in the third quarter.
Tamyia Collier's bucket with 4:20 left gave Reading its largest lead of the game at 33-28.
Wilson started pushing the pace in transition and rattled off an 8-0 run behind six points from Crocona, who capped it with a putback with 1:54 remaining before the brawl ensued.
Crocona added another 2 once play resumed to give Wilson its largest lead of the game at 38-33 with 1:18 left in the third.
Beatty made a layup and Zaniaya Bradley made two free throws for the Red Knights to cut the lead to 38-37 to begin the fourth.
Lee made two free throws for Wilson and JilliAnn Laws answered with a baseline jumper for Reading. Beatty made a pristine pass to Nyla Nunez under the basket to give Reading High a 41-40 lead with 3:41 left.
Lee scored in the paint, Ryan Leaman made a baseline floater, and Lee finished a putback to give Wilson a 46-41 lead at the 1:09 mark.
Rodriguez made a 2-pointer with 33 seconds left and then found Laws for a basket with 1.2 seconds left, but Violet Houck played quarterback on the ensuing inbounds pass for the Bulldogs and launched the ball beyond halfcourt to prevent any last-shot attempt for the Red Knights.
Photo gallery by PhilMarPhoto.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Wilson | 8 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 46 |
Reading High | 9 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 45 |
Bulldogs (9-2, 14-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Hardy | 7-10 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
Crocona | 5-8 | 0-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
Houck | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
Leaman | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
Tisdale | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Williams | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Lee | 3-7 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
Waibel | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peacock | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Trapp | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 20-46 | 5-10 | 1-6 | 6 | 24/27 | 46 |
Red Knights (8-3, 14-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Rodriguez | 3-17 | 4-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
Collier | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Beatty | 4-10 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 10 | 10 |
Bradley | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Ortega | 0-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Laws | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
Spring | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Ocasio | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Blijden | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nunez | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Gaskins | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
McFarlane | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 19-55 | 6-10 | 1-5 | 8 | 29/36 | 45 |
Turnovers: Reading High 15, Wilson 13. Team rebounds: Reading High 7, Wilson 3.
Comments