Five Berks Girls League teams are still alive in their respective District 3 tournaments with the 6A & 5A quarterfinals set to tip off Thursday and the 4A quarters & 3A semifinals set to tip off Friday. Let's dive deeper into the 3A matchup between No. 2 Pequea Valley and No. 3 Oley Valley on Friday.
No. 3 Oley Valley at No. 2 Pequea Valley
Third-seeded Oley Valley (15-9) travels to Kinzers to face No. 2 Pequea Valley (21-2) Friday at 7:00 in the 3A semifinals. The winner faces No. 1 Trinity or No. 4 Biglerville in the championship game.
Senior 5-9 forward Izzy Buehler scored 15 points to lead the Lynx past No. 6 Columbia 51-47 in the quarterfinals Tuesday. Junior 5-3 guard Lily Hare added 12 points.
The Braves had a first-round bye.
Oley Valley and Pequea Valley played each other earlier this season on Dec. 4 with the Braves winning 71-40 behind 26 points from junior 5-6 guard Janae Patterson. Senior 5-4 guard Katie Stoltzfus had 17 points and five 3s in that one.
Each team fell in their respective county quarterfinals. The Braves lost to Manheim Township 42-28 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff quarterfinals. The Lynx lost to Wyomissing 58-33 in the Berks Girls League playoff quarterfinals.
Pequea Valley's only other loss this season was to Exeter 52-34 in the Brandywine Heights Holiday Tournament three days after Christmas.
Buehler leads the Lynx's balanced scoring attack with a 10.4 scoring average followed by junior 5-4 wing Julia Wagner (9.7 ppg, 35 3s), Hare (6.5), sophomore 5-7 guard Kadyn Rhoads (5.9), and senior 5-2 guard Alyson Magee (5.8).
The Oley collective has stepped up after losing over 60-percent of its scoring last season with the graduations of 1,000-point scorer Morgan Snyder and multi-year contributors Ryanne Wheeler and Dana Messner.
Sophomore Taylor Schlegel, junior forward Makenzie Myers, junior guard Ava Walters, and freshman Nina Bauer have each played in 20 or more games for head coach Kerry Snyder's Lynx.
Patterson leads the Braves with a 20.0 scoring average including 39 3-pointers. She's the top scorer in the Lancaster-Lebanon League for head coach Jason McDonald. Stoltzfus is second on the team with a 9.7 average and 48 3s.
Senior 5-6 guard Trinity Rosa (7.9 ppg, 32 3s), senior 5-7 guard Morgan Graham (5.5 ppg), senior 5-9 forward Emily Eckenrode (3.8 ppg), senior 5-4 forward Sydney Roye (3.4 ppg), freshman 5-6 forward Shelyce Burke (2.4 ppg), and senior 5-5 guard Brianna Lourido (1.8 ppg) have each played in 20 or more games.
Pequea Valley scores 56.0 points per game and allows 30.3. Oley Valley averages 45.3 ppg and allows 41.2.
The teams have played three common opponents: Columbia, Fleetwood, and Schuylkill Valley. Oley Valley defeated Columbia 51-47 Tuesday, Fleetwood 62-29 on Jan. 10, and lost to Schuylkill Valley 50-41 on Jan. 27.
Pequea Valley defeated Columbia twice (45-39 on Dec. 17 and 42-37 on Jan. 21), Fleetwood 77-16 on Dec. 16, and Schuylkill Valley 48-30 on Dec. 6.
Last season, the Braves lost 60-43 to Columbia in the 3A semifinals and York Catholic 55-38 in the third-place game. The Braves have never won or appeared in a district championship. Pequea Valley lost 69-45 to Forest Hills in the PIAA 3A tournament.
Oley Valley lost 65-40 in the 3A quarterfinals to York Catholic. The Lynx have been to two championships, beating Lancaster Catholic 71-62 in 2011 and losing 72-69 to Lancaster Catholic in 2012.
Comments