Three Berks Girls League teams are still playing basketball: Wilson in the PIAA Class 6A bracket, Conrad Weiser in 5A, and Wyomissing in 4A. Wilson plays at Upper Dublin Friday at 6 p.m. Conrad Weiser plays at Peters Township Saturday at 1 p.m. Wyomissing hosts Nazareth Friday at 1 p.m. Let's dive deeper into the 6A matchup between Wilson and Upper Dublin.
1-3 Upper Dublin (24-5)
Upper Dublin won its first Suburban One League championship with a 38-30 victory over Central Bucks East on Feb. 11. The Cardinals finished third in District 1 following a 46-32 loss to Garnet Valley in the semifinals and a 30-24 victory again over CB East in the third-place game.
Head coach Morgan Funsten's group is led by 5-4 junior guard, captain, and Farleigh Dickinson commit Megan Ngo, who has returned from a torn ACL to average 8.3 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game this season.
"[Megan] has been the heart and soul of our team," said Funsten, who is in his 13th season as head coach. "She is doing a great job of balancing continuing to rehab her knee while also performing at a high level. She broke her own record of most assists in a single season from last year with 173 and counting."
The Cardinals have been without 6-0 junior and LaSalle commit Emilia Coleman (14.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg), who was ruled ineligible for the playoffs after transferring to UD after playing her first two seasons at Gwynedd Mercy Academy.
"We replaced Emilia with Lexi Ngo," Funsten said. "Lexi is similar to Megan in that she is a great ballhandler and distributor. Her being on the court allows Meg to be more aggressive offensively as Lexi will run the point at times.
"It has been a challenge replacing Emilia because of how good she was both offensively and defensively. Add in the high basketball IQ that she has and it is a reason she was priceless for us this year. The other girls have done a great job of stepping up in her absence."
Sophomore 5-8 wing Tamia Clark (14.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) is the top scorer for the Cardinals. Sophomore 6-0 wing Bridget DiMartile (6.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg) is a three-sport athlete and freshman 5-6 guard Ella Morris (6.2 ppg) is an outside threat. Those two round out the top five for UD.
The Cardinals drew eventual champion Cardinal O'Hara in the first round of states last year, falling 49-17.
"We know that all teams remaining in states are good teams and nothing will be easy," Funsten said. "We have been great all season at focusing on the game in front of us and our sole focus right now is getting ready for Wilson on Friday night.
"Wilson is an athletic team that is physical and has good size. They are pretty deep and have good balance across the lineup. One of the main keys for us will be to rebound the basketball."
3-5 Wilson (19-9)
Wilson won Division I of the Berks Girls League, successfully navigating a season-ending torn ACL suffered by junior All-County guard Laila Jones during the AAU season.
The Bulldogs fell to Gov. Mifflin 60-56 in the BCIAA semifinals and to eventual champion Dallastown 40-29 in the District 3 quarterfinals. Wilson beat Manheim Township and Mechanicsburg in the playback rounds to finish fifth in the district.
Last season, the Bulldogs returned to the state playoffs for the first time in six seasons. They fell in the first round to Conestoga 45-29 last season.
Wilson, in addition to the loss of Jones, only graduated one key player from last season's team and first-year head coach Matt Raquet has seen a duo of sophomores come into their own this season.
Sophomore 5-9 wing Kailani Hardy leads the team with a 14.3 scoring average and has hit 28 3-pointers. Sophomore 5-6 guard Ryan Leaman has taken on a larger role in the backcourt and averaged 7.8 ppg while draining a team-high 34 3s.
Junior 5-7 guard Laura Crocona is the No. 2 scorer at 10.0 ppg and 24 3s. She primarily guards the opposing team's best backcourt player.
Junior 6-0 center Violet Houck, who is also a standout track and field hurdler, averages 5.4 ppg and frequently secures double-digit rebounds and multiple blocks in a game.
Junior 6-0 forward Emma Williams has played in all 28 games and provides another post presence.
Junior 5-4 guard Janai Tisdale has started some games and adds defense and ball handling off the bench. Freshman 5-10 forward Jade Lee has been a pleasant surprise for Raquet off the bench, averaging 5.4 ppg while filling in when others were injured.
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