Makenzie Myers Anchors Defense in Oley Valley’s Division Win Over Kutztown

The two-time defending Berks IV champion Oley Valley knew a battle awaited on Monday night.

The Lynx, who also won their first district playoff game in 10 years last season, braved the snow and traveled north to face a Kutztown team that generated considerable buzz throughout the offseason as their biggest challenger in the division.

Oley Valley senior Makenzie Myers challenging a shot by Kutztown junior Jade Fitzgerald Monday. (PhilMarPhoto)

“I was kind of nervous, if I’m being honest, because I heard a lot of good things about Kutztown this year," said Oley Valley senior forward Makenzie Myers. "I’m glad we showed up the way we did. We definitely pushed through all our battles tonight and pulled out the win.”

In a physical, defensive game that clearly held importance to both teams, the Lynx answered the bell and came away with a 29-26 victory over the Cougars in a Division IV matchup in the Berks Girls League.

“This definitely wasn’t a beauty contest,” Oley Valley head coach Kerry Snyder said. “It was a brawl. We knew it was going to be gritty and tough that whole time, and we just had to grind it out.”

The win gives the Lynx (3-0, 4-1) an early lead in the division over their newest challenger. In recent seasons, Oley Valley battled Brandywine Heights for Berks IV supremacy. This year, Kutztown appears poised to fill that role. The Lynx and Cougars will meet again on Jan. 29.

Myers, one of four multi-sport seniors in Oley's starting lineup, anchored the paint all night, finishing with six blocks to go along with seven rebounds, repeatedly erasing Kutztown scoring chances and altering countless others.

“Those blocks obviously stopped a lot of their shots,” Myers said. “Defense is just at the end of the day what’s going to win us our game.”

Snyder praised Myers’ impact beyond the box score, pointing to the balance of a veteran-led roster that doesn’t rely on one scorer. Three different players have led the Lynx in scoring across their five games this season.

“She doesn’t have to score,” Snyder said of Myers, who also runs track and is the goalie on the soccer team. “She can just go in there and play great defense and all those little things that don’t ever get noticed quite as much.”

Oley Valley senior Makenzie Myers before calmly swishing two late free throws. (PhilMarPhoto)

Myers, along with fellow senior Julia Wagner, also calmly knocked down crucial free throws in the waning seconds to ice the game for the Lynx.

“My coach is gonna be mad at me if I don’t make them,” Myers said with a grin when asked what was going through her mind when she stepped up to the line. “We definitely practice foul shots a lot in practices for moments like that. Just had to breathe and make them.”

The Cougars (2-1, 3-1) set the tone early, jumping out to a 4–0 lead before senior Lily Hare got Oley Valley on the board with a 3-pointer. Kutztown carried an 8–6 advantage into the end of the first quarter behind four points from junior and top scorer Kaitlyn Houptley.

Oley Valley switched from man-to-man to a trapping 2-3 zone in the second quarter, a move settled the Lynx defensively and disrupted Kutztown’s offensive flow.

The Lynx took their first lead of the game at 9–8 on a Kadyn Rhoads free throw, and after the teams traded the lead twice, Oley Valley held a 16–14 edge at halftime. Kutztown junior Riley Derstine, the Cougars’ second-leading scorer, was relegated to the bench for much of the quarter due to foul trouble.

Kutztown tied the game at 16–16 on Jade Fitzgerald’s free throws in the third quarter, but couldn’t pry the lead away. Oley Valley held a 20–18 lead heading into the fourth in a game where points came at a premium.

Houptley tied it once more with two free throws to open the final quarter, but Hare responded with her second 3-pointer of the night with 5:22 remaining to give the Lynx the lead for good.

Hare finished with a game-high 12 points, including the pivotal bookend threes in the first and fourth quarters.

Oley Valley senior Lily Hare surveys the floor Monday against Kutztown. (PhilMarPhoto)

“That’s a kid who puts in a lot of work,” Snyder said of Hare. “She's the first one in the gym. She goes through all those little things, just doing Mikan drills to warm up and then into form shooting. She does it consistently every day, and it's something about that consistent practice every day. We dissect her game, we look at her footwork. Then she takes it to heart and she actually implements it."

Oley Valley extended its lead to five — the largest by either team all night — when Wagner finished a layup off an assist from Ava Walters with 3:20 remaining.

Kutztown answered late after Derstine’s putback at 2:25 and Fitzgerald’s steal-and-score off full-court pressure cut the deficit to 25–24 with under a minute to play.

Multiple fouls and possession changes ensued. Myers and Wagner took advantage, going 4-for-4 from the foul line to ice the game. Kutztown went 2-for-8 from the stripe in the fourth.

For Oley Valley, the win gives it a head start in defending its division crown, something that didn’t happen last season when the Lynx dropped their first game against Brandywine Heights.

“That’s a momentum builder for us,” Snyder said. “From a confidence standpoint for us, it goes a long way. Now we’re building, we’re not trying to claw back.”

	1	2	3	4	Final
Oley Valley	6	10	4	9	29
Kutztown	8	6	4	8	26

Lynx (3-0, 3-1)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Hare	5-12	0-0	2-6	0	5	12
Myers	1-3	2-2	0-0	1	7	4
Rhoads	2-4	2-2	0-0	1	0	6
Wagner	2-6	3-5	0-2	3	5	7
Walters	0-3	0-0	0-1	2	3	0
Schlegel	0-2	0-0	0-1	1	1	0
Bauer	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	2	0
E. DeBalko	0-3	0-0	0-2	1	2	0
Totals	10-34	7-9	2-13	9	25/30	29

Cougars (2-1, 3-1)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Houptley	2-12	4-4	0-3	0	3	8
Derstine	3-11	0-4	0-2	1	11	6
Gehris	0-5	3-4	0-1	1	2	3
Fitzgerald	3-8	3-4	0-0	0	4	9
Kutz	0-3	0-2	0-1	0	1	0
Sanders	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	3	0
McGranahan	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals	8-43	10-18	0-7	2	25/28	26

Turnovers: Kutztown 12, Oley Valley 18. Team rebounds: Kutztown 3, Oley Valley 5.