Wilson Wins First County Title in 12 Years, Tops Upstart Exeter
- 10 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Sam Cavalieri, Berks Girls Basketball correspondent
Wilson erased three straight years of frustration in the Berks Girls League playoffs with a 54-44 victory over Exeter to win its first county championship since 2014 on Friday night at Santander Arena.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (23-2) led 32-16 at halftime but had to withstand a strong second-half surge by the No. 3 seed Eagles (15-10).
Wilson was able to lean on its veteran starting five — seniors Laila Jones, Laura Crocona, Violet Houck and juniors Kailani Hardy, Ryan Leaman — who have been on the losing end in the county playoffs in recent years despite successful overall seasons.
The players didn’t forget the losses to Wyomissing in the semifinals in 2023, Wyomissing in the finals in 2024 and Governor Mifflin in the semifinals last year.
“I’m happy for this team, especially the seniors that have had some heartbreaking losses in this arena,” Wilson coach Matt Raquet said. “They always look at that banner in the gym and see that 2014 mark and it eats at them. They’ve been wanting to put this up there for three, four years now.”
When Exeter closed it to 46-42 on stellar sophomore Addison Harper’s steal and bucket with 2:22 left, the Bulldogs looked to put the ball in the hands of Jones. She hit two free throws to extend the lead to six and then stole the ball on the next possession which led to more free throws.
Jones (14 points, five rebounds), Houck (eight points, nine rebounds) and Crocona (nine points) finished the game off 8-for-10 in the last 90 seconds to seal the game.
“We just had to keep our head and work as a team,” Hardy said. “We are a really strong and confident team. I just knew that once they had their head up and I saw their energy, I knew we were going to win.”
Jones scored 10 of her team-high 14 in the second half and really lowered the temperature for her team with her poise.
“There came a time at a point in the game where I had to take control and being the point guard that’s my job,” Jones said. “Keeping everybody composed and just playing my role.”
The Bulldogs cruised to an easy 67-36 win in the regular season matchup between these teams, a game in which Jones reached 1,000 career points. They opened a big lead in the first half of the finals. It started with an incredible offensive effort in the first quarter, going 7-for-13 from the field including 3-for-5 from 3.
They put the defensive clamps on Exeter in the second quarter. They forced 12 turnovers in the second quarter alone. Raquet credited his defensive leader, Hardy, who was tasked with most of the defensive effort on Harper.
“We want to get some steals,” Hardy said. “We’re trying to push the ball a lot after.”
Exeter didn’t get off its second shot of the quarter until the 3:46 mark and didn’t score until a Lillie Keperling (seven points) free throw with 2 minutes left. Chloe Dauble (eight points, seven rebounds) scored the only field goal of the quarter for Exeter with 20 seconds left in the half.
The defense allowed the Bulldogs to survive as they were ice cold in the second and third quarter shooting 8-for-36 including 0-for-12 from 3.
Raquet mixed up defenses throughout the first half on Harper and along with the effort of Hardy it worked limiting her to only five points. But Harper found her stride in the second half and finished with a game-high 17 points and added six rebounds.
“(Harper’s) a great player,” Racquet said. “She’s going to be fun to watch for the next two years.”
Despite the sophomore’s efforts it was the Wilson veterans that captured the elusive county title.
“It’s exciting to see 2026 going up (on the banner) there now,” Jones said. “No more need to look at 2014. I’m just glad we could get this done.”
Wilson will host Penn Manor Monday in the District 3 Class 6A first round. Exeter travels to Lampeter-Strasburg in the District 3 Class 5A first round Tuesday.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Wilson | 21 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 54 |
Exeter | 13 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 44 |
Bulldogs (23-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Jones | 5-9 | 4-6 | 0-3 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
Leaman | 2-7 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Crocona | 2-7 | 4-6 | 1-5 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
Hardy | 3-14 | 4-4 | 1-5 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
V. Houck | 3-5 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 9 | 8 |
L. Houck | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lee | 1-6 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
Osumanu | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Totals | 17-53 | 17-25 | 3-16 | 9 | 28/33 | 54 |
Eagles (15-10) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Flood | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Harper | 5-9 | 5-5 | 2-2 | 2 | 6 | 17 |
Dauble | 4-10 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
Keperling | 2-6 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
Freese | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Dolan | 3-4 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Turman | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Hassler | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
M. Karasek | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 15-38 | 12-14 | 2-9 | 6 | 25/29 | 44 |
Turnovers: Wilson 13, Exeter 23. Team Rebounds: Wilson 5, Exeter 4.