Gia Borelli-Wilson

Size and experience are two things that you can’t teach. Wilson has both which makes the Bulldogs a dangerous team in the postseason. They cruised to a 42-24 victory over #6 seed Twin Valley in the Berks County quarterfinals. After going (9-9) last year, the Bulldogs have improved to (16-5) in Chris Gallo’s second season as head coach. Isis Dojan provides the size. The 6’2 junior piled up a team-high twelve points and ten rebounds on Saturday night in West Lawn. Keira Levengood, Amiyah Nguyen, and Gia Borelli add the experience. That trio of seniors has played in a total of 205 varsity games. Wilson jumped out to a 17-2 advantage early in the second quarter. The Raiders, led by all-division guard and field hockey standout Natali Foster, climbed within nine points with just over two minutes remaining before halftime. Foster scored a game-high 13 points including seven in the second period. Borelli, a three-year starter at guard, drilled a triple from the top of the key to end Twin Valley’s run and put the Bulldogs up 22-10 at the break. Nguyen, who leads Wilson with twenty 3-pointers, connected from beyond the arc midway through the third quarter to put the Bulldogs in front 29-12. They never looked back. Borelli had ten points and Levengood chipped in with eight. Wilson held Twin Valley 16 points under its season average. Borelli explained why they’re so good on the defensive end of the floor. She emphasized that Gallo focuses on defense every day at practice. 5’8 forward Kelsy Moschak, the Bulldogs’ fourth senior starter, usually gets the toughest defensive assignment. The (14-8) Raiders were held to two points in the opening quarter and ten in the first half. They went 7-12 from the free throw line, while Wilson was 6-10. Twin Valley managed just one 3-pointer. Senior forward Rachel Knight got into early foul trouble and only had three points. Borelli thought the third-seeded Bulldogs had a big advantage playing on their home court. She believes that the competition in Division 1 prepares them for the postseason. Division 1 teams went (4-0) in the quarterfinals this weekend. Those four wins were by an average of 14 points. After losing in the first round of the county playoffs the past two years, Borelli is very happy to get to play at Santander Arena in the semifinals. The Bulldogs will take on #7 seed Reading at 6pm on Tuesday. Wilson took both regular season meetings with the Red Knights by double figures. However, Borelli is expecting a much closer game on Tuesday. The Bulldogs have won nine of their last ten games. The second semifinal features top-seeded Berks Catholic and #4 Gov. Mifflin.