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 6A matchup between No. 2 Dallastown and No. 7 Wilson.
No. 7 Wilson at No. 2 Dallastown
The seventh-seeded Bulldogs (17-8) travel to the No. 2 Wildcats (24-2) Thursday at 7:00 in the 6A quarterfinals. The winner will face either No. 3 Lebanon or No. 6 Manheim Township.
Sophomore 5-9 guard Kailani Hardy scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs past No. 10 Cedar Crest 48-39 in the first round Monday. Fellow sophomore 5-6 guard Ryan Leaman added 14 points.
Hardy and Leaman have done an impressive job filling in for junior Laila Jones, who was an All-Berks selection last season and is out for the year with a torn ACL.
Dallastown 6-1 senior forward Praise Matthews, a Saint Francis commit, scored 20 points to lead the Wildcats past No. 15 Cedar Cliff 41-26 in the first round.
Wilson handed Dallastown one of their two losses earlier this season in a six-point victory on Dec. 23 behind Hardy's 21 points. The Wildcats have won 19 in a row since including a 40-36 victory over Red Lion in the York-Adams League championship. The Bulldogs fell in the Berks Girls League semifinals 60-56 to Gov. Mifflin.
Hardy leads the Bulldogs with a 15.1 scoring average followed by junior 5-7 Laura Crocona (10.0), Leaman (8.0), junior 6-0 center Violet Houck (5.8), and freshman Jade Lee (5.3). Junior 6-0 forward Emma Williams and junior 5-4 guard Janai Tisdale round out first-year head coach Matt Raquet's rotation.
Matthews leads the Wildcats with a 16.4 scoring average followed by junior 5-11 guard Ava Jamison (10.0), senior 5-5 guard Alonna Dowell (9.9), senior 5-11 forward Harper Poff (4.7), and senior 5-6 guard Campbell O'Neill (4.3) under head coach Jay Rexroth, who is in his eighth season. Junior 5-7 guard Sophia Scovitch (4.1) has also played in 20-plus games.
Dallastown scores 49.8 points per game and allows 34.8. Wilson scores 50.9 points per game and allows 40.8.
The teams have played two common opponents this season: Central York and Reading High. Wilson beat Central York 43-39 on Jan. 4 and Reading High twice (65-47 on Dec. 19 and 46-45 on Jan. 30). Dallastown beat Reading High 48-39 on Dec. 7 and Central York thrice (41-37 on Dec. 20, 51-42 on Jan. 24, and 54-39 on Feb. 10).
Last season, Dallastown fell to Central Dauphin 39-29 in the District 3 Class 6A championship. Wilson fell to Central Dauphin 42-41 in the semifinals and 64-49 to Lebanon in the third-place game.
Dallastown beat Central Bucks East in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament before falling to Parkland. Wilson fell to Conestoga in the first round of states.
Overall, Wilson has won six district titles. Dallastown has never won.
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