The first onslaught of Berks Girls League divisional games has died down with only three games on tonight's schedule: Oley Valley at Antietam in a league crossover, Muhlenberg at McCaskey, and Executive Education at Brandywine Heights.
It's a good time to take a deep breath in digesting a few key happenings around the league to this point including a coach entering rare company with his 300th win, Berks Catholic's critical win over Wilson Tuesday, and updates aplenty on hot starts for both teams and players.
Gov. Mifflin head coach Mike Clark Reaches 300 Wins
Gov. Mifflin has fielded some outstanding teams in the past 13 seasons and it's no coincidence head coach Mike Clark has been there each of those years.
Clark became just the fourth Berks Girls League head coach to ever reach 300 wins in a 65-45 victory over Hempfield last Wednesday. He joined current Berks Catholic head coach Bob Birmingham (652), former Gov. Mifflin head coach Rick Bausher (473), and former Wilson/Twin Valley head coach Doug Myer (361) in the elusive 300-club.
After accumulating a 93-18 record in four seasons at Oley Valley, Clark has experienced vast success going 209-107 in the last 13 seasons at Gov. Mifflin.
Clark's Mustangs have won five Berks titles (2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022) and appeared in a district title in that 2015-16 season. Clark has only one losing record throughout these 13 years.
First there was Emily Gingrich during the 2012-13 season. Then the Madison Koehler, Melissa Martin, Jennifer Martin, Kylie Herman-led Mustangs who went 27-3 in 2015-16. Up came Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins and Kyra Hartman, Stella Monica and Jocelyn Grosch, Shakyla Mayo and Anyah Ortiz, and most recently, Taylor Koenig handing the keys to Bella Super, Brooklyn George, and Bridget Martin, who is following behind her sisters Melissa and Jen on the hardwood in Shillington.
Super is leading the Mustangs, and the league, with 20.8 points per game.
Mifflin (1-0 Berks I, 3-1) will host Berks Catholic (1-0 Berks I, 3-1) in a crucial division game Friday.
Corado, Langdon Lead BC Past Defending Berks I Champ Wilson
Wilson rolled through Berks I last season finishing 12-0 in the division. The Bulldogs won't finish undefeated in the division this season.
Sydney Corado scored 20 points and hit four 3s and Madison Langdon had 14 points, hitting a 3 and converting 11 of 13 free throws, to lead Berks Catholic past the Bulldogs 51-41 Tuesday night at Wolf Gymnasium.
"This one meant a lot to us," Langdon said. "It's something we've been preparing for. It's a huge win for us and is going to give us confidence and momentum going forward. It was definitely on our minds after playing them three times last season and not getting a win."
The Bulldogs topped the Saints by 12 and 13 in two regular season league games last season and by 17 in the Berks playoff semifinals.
Wilson took a 10-8 lead after the first quarter behind sophomore Kailani Hardy's six points. Corado scored five points, including a 3, and Langdon hit her lone 3 in the second quarter as the Saints regained the lead 18-16 at halftime.
Violet Houck, Janai Tisdale, Ryan Leaman, Laura Crocona, and Emma Williams each scored for Wilson in the third quarter as the Bulldogs cut the Saints lead to 27-26 headed to the final quarter.
Langdon, who made all of her 11 free throws, and Corado, who scored 10 points and hit two 3s, closed it out in the fourth quarter despite the best efforts of Hardy, who scored eight of her team-high 16 points.
Langdon leads the team with 19 points per game but feels comfortable facilitating the offense when defenses send extra help her way. Having a versatile inside-out player on the wing like Corado is a luxury.
"In games like this when teams close in a lot, I've been working on finding that extra pass and reading the defense a little bit more," Langdon said. "That's how the game worked out tonight.
"I'm really proud of how the whole team played today especially Syd. She really stepped up when we needed her to and knocked down a lot of shots."
The win is a confidence-builder for the Saints, who finished with a losing record for the first time in Berks Catholic girls basketball's history. The precedent at BC is to play much further beyond the BCIAA semifinals, where the Saints have fallen the past two seasons.
They'd like to have a higher seed than last year, No. 5, in the District 3 Class 4A bracket and a win over a quality 6A opponent helps.
They are off to a good start with a key matchup against Berks I foe Gov. Mifflin looming Friday.
"We're going to enjoy this one then try to take the momentum and energy today into Friday," Langdon said.
1,000 Update
Brandywine Heights senior Addison Benner became the 142nd Berks Girls League player to reach 1,000 points last week in a loss to Hamburg.
Benner is the fourth Bullets girl to reach 1,000 points with Deanna Daddona (1,253), Nicole Savino (1,252), and Mallory Olsheski (1,062).
There will be an in-depth piece in BGB of Benner's inspiring journey to 1K soon. You don't want to miss it.
The senior will likely be Brandywine's third highest scorer by the end of her next game with a chance to break the record by season's end. She scored 310 total last season at 14.1 per game.
The top five Berks active scorers list is as follows:
Wyomissing senior Amaya Stewart (1,383)
Benner (1,054)
Langdon (945)
Reading High senior Yamilex Rodriguez (723)
Corado (603)
Wilson junior Laila Jones, who is likely out for the season with a knee injury, sits at 788.
Off to Hot Starts
Multiple teams, freshmen, and players stepping into larger roles have turned heads to begin the season.
Conrad Weiser (4-1) and Twin Valley (1-0, 5-1) are off to blazing get-outs in Berks II in attempts to overthrow Exeter as the two-time defending division champ.
The Scouts have had a balanced scoring attack under new head coach Chris Kline. Senior Sydney Spang (11.0 ppg), sophomore Geniva Paul (8.2), senior Lauren Grabosky (8.0), and senior Alex Trevena (7.8) have all taken turns as the go-to scorer.
The Scouts have defeated Blue Mountain, Elco, Warwick, and Hamburg.
The Raiders have been led by dynamo junior Hailey Kilgore's 15.2 ppg and have defeated Eastern York, Milton Hershey, Donegal, Manheim Central, and Daniel Boone.
The Scouts and Raiders meet up January 7 and 21.
Reading High has picked up quality wins over Bishop Shanahan and Hempfield on its way to a 4-2 start behind Rodriguez's 13.7 points per game and senior Tamyia Collier's 10.0.
Here are some freshmen playing above their years: Brandywine Heights' Sophia Benner (16.6 ppg), Exeter's Addison Harper (8.3 ), Twin Valley's Olivia Kilgore (6.7), Gov. Mifflin's Saray Renninger (6.3), Reading High's Xiani Beatty (6.3).
Here are the current 3-point leaders: S. Benner 22, H. Kilgore 14, Fleetwood's Teagan Hilburt 11, Langdon 9, Super 9, Spang 9.
Here are the links to updated standings and scoring leaders (with players averaging double figures listed).
Sleeping Giants
Wyomissing lost its first game last season after 31 straight wins. The season before? After a 14-0 start. The Spartans' first loss this season came in their second game, but that doesn't change Wyo's stature as the team to beat in the Berks Girls League this season.
The 48-14 loss came in the Lake-Lehman Tip-Off Tournament against defending District 2 Class 6A champ Hazleton, which lost by nine to eventual state champ Cardinal O'Hara in the PIAA second round last season.
Hazleton is 4-0 including a win over Emmaus, which beat Wilson earlier this season, by a score of 82-44.
The Spartans (2-1) are fine-tuning for something greater than where it went last season — the PIAA Class 4A semifinals. And they still have two-time Berks Player of the Year and Albany commit Amaya Stewart, who is averaging 14.7 point per game.
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