Chris Gallo-Wilson

Over his 15 years as the head coach of the Schuylkill Valley boys basketball team, Chris Gallo stressed defense and sharing the basketball. Gallo is in his second season with the Wilson girls team and his formula is still working. The Bulldogs allowed just 34 points per game during the regular season. On Saturday night, they held Division 2 champion Twin Valley to two points in the first quarter and ten in the opening half. Third-seeded Wilson rolled to a 42-24 victory over the sixth-seeded Raiders in the Berks County quarterfinals. All-division forward Keira Levengood converted drives to the basket in the closing seconds of the first and third quarters. Levengood finished with eight points. She’s one of four seniors in the starting lineup. 6’2 junior Isis Dojan had a team-high twelve points and ten rebounds. Gallo said Dojan played well, especially considering that she was sick all week. The backcourt of Gia Borelli (10) and Amiyah Nguyen (6) combined for 16 points. The (16-5) Bulldogs have been balanced on offense all season. Gallo told me that this is a very unselfish group. He has also been thrilled with the defensive effort of 5’8 forward Kelsy Moschak. She guards the opponent’s top player every night. Wilson raced out to an 8-0 advantage. It was 17-2 one minute into the second quarter. The scrappy (14-8) Raiders got within nine points with just over two minutes left before halftime, but Borelli hit a top of the key 3-pointer to make it 22-10 at the break. The Bulldogs opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run and the lead expanded to 42-16. It wasn’t a pleasant return to West Lawn for Twin Valley coach Doug Myer. He won 338 games, five Berks League titles, and three District 3 championships over 18 years as Wilson’s head coach. All-division guard Natali Foster provided a game-high 13 points including seven in the second quarter. Foster and Rachel Knight helped the Raiders capture a state championship in field hockey. Knight picked up her third foul seven seconds into the third period. She was limited to three points. Twin Valley went 7-12 from the free throw line, while Wilson was 6-10. The Bulldogs have won nine of their last ten contests. However, Gallo wasn’t pleased with how his squad handled the Raiders’ 1-3-1 trap. Wilson committed 17 turnovers. Gallo knows that they’ll have to take care of the ball much better when they face Reading’s pressure on Tuesday. That semifinal will get underway at 6pm at Santander Arena. The seventh-seeded Red Knights defeated Schuylkill Valley 43-33 on Saturday afternoon. Wilson swept the regular season series with Reading. The Bulldogs prevailed 53-38 and 53-35. Division 1 teams went (4-0) in the quarterfinals which is something that Gallo and I discussed. Top-seeded Berks Catholic squares off with #4 seed Gov. Mifflin in the nightcap on Tuesday.