This season felt a little different for the Wyomissing Spartans.
Annie McCaffrey, a key component on last year's state Final Four team, went to play soccer at the University of Massachusetts.
A tougher schedule resulted in Wyomissing's first loss coming on Nov. 30, rather than in March after 31 straight wins last season and mid-January after 14 straight wins two seasons ago.
Yet here these Spartans are once again, hoisting a District 3 Class 4A trophy for the third consecutive season after a 26-24 victory over top-seeded Lancaster Catholic Friday evening at Hershey's Giant Center.
This senior class has remained dedicated to basketball while overcoming serious injuries and already securing college commitments (some not even in basketball). But it has never been about individual goals for these Spartans and that is a big reason why they've enjoyed the successes they have.
"People are going to remember this group for a long, long time," Wyomissing head coach Aaron Anders said. "They have inspired so many young girls in our community. When you come to our games, you see senior citizens all the way down to elementary school kids. That's what it's about. They're great athletes, but even better people."
One year after Anders took over as the Spartans' head coach, the 2025 class of Amaya Stewart, Alexis Hardy, Audrey Hurleman, and Lili Marshall joined the varsity basketball ranks, with McCaffrey also suiting up for the first time as a sophomore after not playing as a freshman.
"We've been playing together for so long that it honestly feels surreal that things are coming to an end," Hardy said. "Every single game we're trying to take it to the next level because we don't want it to end."
As freshmen, the team went 13-10 and lost to Berks Catholic in the BCIAA quarterfinals and Bermudian Springs in the first round of districts, but the talent and chemistry of a group that had been playing together since grade school was evident.
"As a group of girls, we've grown up together," senior Audrey Hurleman said. "The four of us are all best friends. It's really just the chemistry on and off the court. We hang out almost every day off the court and that shows on the court."
It didn't take them long to realize that potential, going 28-3 the next season and winning the first Berks and District 3 titles in Wyomissing girls basketball history.
"We pour into each other," Stewart said. "We pour encouragement, we pour fears, we pour all the above. We just keep pouring into each other and building each other up. There's never a dull moment with us. I think that helps us continue to push every single day to get better."
The first county championship came via a 46-28 win over Reading High and the district title via a 35-30 victory over Delone Catholic. (Who could forget the riveting, game-winning 3 by Stewart to beat Berks Catholic in the district semifinals along the way?)
A spirited run to the state quarterfinals followed and by the end it was hard to believe the 2025 class, just sophomores, had two more years left. How much more could they accomplish? Turns out a lot.
They won an absurd 31 games in a row to start their junior season, doubling down with another Berks title (45-36 over Wilson) and district title (45-32 over Delone Catholic) before making it to the state's Final Four.
By this point, Stewart (Albany commit) was getting Division I college basketball interest, Hurleman had committed to North Carolina for lacrosse, and Hardy (Delaware commit) was getting Division I interest for track.
Individually, they had each reached the pinnacle of high school athletics in their respective sports. But it has never been about individual goals with these Spartans. The thought of sitting out was never a thought, not even with Hurleman tearing her ACL and getting surgery only nine months before making her return to the court in January.
Marshall is yet another example of the gritty mentality of these Spartans. She played in 12 games as a freshman and 22 as a sophomore. A torn ACL kept her out of her entire junior season. She returned this season to play in all 27 games as a key ball handler.
That mindset is why the early 48-14 loss to Hazleton in the second game of the year this season didn't deter the Spartans. The two mid-January losses to Middletown (by 22 points) and Westtown (by 39) didn't either.
They got back to work and rattled off eight straight wins and were sitting at 20-3 headed to the BCIAA semifinals. Then, the Spartans were shocked by Reading High to prevent their goal of a county threepeat.
They locked back in and used that upset as motivation to ensure they defended their district crown.
"That makes this one feel even better," Hardy said after winning the district championship. "It was obviously disappointing after counties, but it was just more fuel. Finally having this medal hung on our necks, it feels really great.
"Every game I'm playing right now could be the last. I'm always giving 100 percent for my team and for Wyomissing."
These seniors have gone 95-18 through their four seasons so far with the Spartans and cemented themselves as the only Berks girls basketball team to accomplish a district threepeat and only the 15th team in District 3 history to complete a threepeat or better.
In Berks, Wilson won back-to-back titles on two occasions (2013-14 and 1997-98) and Holy Name won in 1993 and 1994, but none of those teams made it back to the championship game the next season, let alone win it. These Spartans are the only team to get it done.
In the history of District 3, which dates back to 1972, only 14 other teams have done what these Spartans did Friday.
In 1A, Camp Hill won four in a row from 1984-87 and Lebanon Catholic won five in a row ending in 1996, six in a row ending in 2004, and four in a row ending in 2018.
In 2A, Susquehanna Township completed a fourpeat in 1981, Trinity completed a fourpeat in 1990, Delone Catholic completed a threepeat in 2004, York Catholic won 10 (!!!) in a row ending in 2015, Camp Hill won three in a row ending in 2018, and Linden Hall won four in a row concluding in 2022.
Three teams completed threepeats in 3A: McCaskey from 1981-83 and Lancaster Catholic twice, from 1988-90 and 1992-94.
Only two teams have ever done it in 4A: Lancaster Catholic from 2018-20 and these Wyomissing Spartans.
No team has done it in 5A or 6A, which were created when the district expanded classifications in 2017.
There are a whole lot of A's in the names of Wyomissing's special senior class and the Spartans' head coach: Amaya, Audrey, Alexis, Aaron. It's only fitting that they've brought their A-game every day for the past four seasons and created history along the way.
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