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 4A matchup between No. 3 Wyomissing and No. 6 Susquehanna Township.
No. 3 Wyomissing vs. No. 6 Susquehanna Township
The third-seeded and two-time defending champion Spartans (20-4) host No. 6 Susquehanna Township (15-7) Friday at 7:00 in the 4A quarterfinals. The winner will face either No. 2 Northern Lebanon or No. 7 Berks Catholic in the semifinals.
Both teams had a first-round bye in districts.
Wyomissing is aiming for a district threepeat after falling short of completing a Berks County threepeat. The Spartans lost 40-38 to eventual champ Reading High in the Berks Girls League playoff semifinals on Feb. 13, so they'll be motivated to defend their district crown.
The Spartans are led by Albany commit and 6-1 forward Amaya Stewart, who is averaging a Berks-best 19.8 points per game. Stewart has scored 1,815 total points in her career.
Senior guard Alexis Hardy (Delaware track commit, 7.4 ppg), senior Audrey Hurleman (University of North Carolina lacrosse commit), junior Kacey Maggs (High Point lacrosse commit, 4.5 ppg), and sophomore Karly Hyde (5.2 ppg) are all key returning pieces from last year's Wyomissing state Final Four team.
Hurleman returned to the court on Jan. 28 after missing the first 16 games of the season with a knee injury.
Senior guard Lily Marshall didn't play last season due to a knee injury, but has returned to play in all 24 games this season and serve as a backcourt ball handler.
Sophomore guard Addie Loeb (5.5 ppg, 39 3s) and junior guard Ella Anders are key bench pieces for head coach Aaron Anders, who has already won over 100 games in just five seasons.
Prior to the Berks playoffs loss to Reading High, Wyomissing was on an eight-game winning streak. The Spartans other three losses this season have come to Hazleton, Middletown, and Philly private school Westtown.
Susquehanna Township, which bumped down to 4A after finishing third in 5A last season, last played Feb. 11 in a 60-38 victory over Hershey.
Susquehanna is led by its precocious freshman backcourt of 5-5 Jaycee Martin and 5-8 Devyn Archer, who have stepped up admirably with the absence of two top Hanna players from last season in Ava London and Layonna Morales due to injuries.
Martin is the Mid-Penn Conference's top scorer at 20.5 ppg and has drilled 50 3-pointers. Archer is the orchestrator, averaging 9.0 ppg, 4.9 apg, and 4.9 rpg in the regular season for head coach Daron Dickerson's bunch.
Senior 5-11 wing Aaliyah Barnes scored 10.9 ppg and grabbed 5.2 rpg through the regular season.
Junior 5-10 forward Kyra Jackson is the team's leading rebounder at 9.6 per game with fellow junior forward Sanai Lester grabbing 6.0 per game.
Senior forward Zoey Murray, freshman 5-8 wing Ja'Zara Lee, freshman guard Londyn Le'Mon, and freshman 5-10 forward Ayla Martin round out Susquehanna's rotation.
After a 6-6 start, Hanna has won nine of their last 10 games. The only loss was a 60-19 setback to Dallastown, which plays Wilson in the 6A quarterfinals Thursday, on Feb. 3.
Susquehanna scores 55.6 points per game and allows 43.0. Wyomissing scores 50.5 and allows 29.6; the Spartans sport the No. 1 defense and No. 3 offense in Berks.
There are no common opponent matchups between the teams. Susquehanna has played one Berks team this season in Muhlenberg, which it defeated 55-43 on Feb. 7.
Last season, second-seeded Susquehanna defeated No. 7 Palmyra 48-30 and lost to No. 3 Northern York 38-34 before beating West York 52-36 in the District 3 Class 5A third-place game. Hanna then fell 50-34 to Oakland Catholic in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
No. 2 Wyomissing defeated No. 7 Middletown 61-39, No. 3 Northern Lebanon 45-15, and No. 1 Delone Catholic 45-32 to capture back-to-back District 3 Class 4A titles last season. The Spartans defeated Carver Engineering & Science 43-22, Neumann-Goretti 62-52, and North Catholic 61-46 before falling to eventual champion Blackhawk 47-31 in the PIAA Class 4A playoffs.
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