Laila Jones-Wilson

Some basketball players are great scorers. Others are great passers. Laila Jones can do both. The 5’7 sophomore point guard had 18 points and nine assists in Wilson’s 53-35 victory at rival Gov. Mifflin. “I’m not a selfish player. I like to get my team involved. You can’t win by yourself,” said Jones. She set up Violet Houck time and time again. The 5’11 sophomore finished with 18 points, two shy of her career high. Houck piled up 16 rebounds before fouling out with one minute remaining. The (11-1, 5-0) Bulldogs start four sophomores. Senior guard Jasilyn Moncada got them off to a fast start by sinking a pair of 3-pointers. Wilson led 18-8 after the opening quarter. Jones and Houck each scored five points in the second period as their advantage expanded to 34-20 at halftime. The (6-6, 2-3) Mustangs limited the Bulldogs to six points in the third quarter. Gov. Mifflin trailed 40-30 entering the final period. Taylor Koenig, a 5’8 senior, hit a triple from the right wing with 6:15 left. The two-time all-division pick got the Mustangs within 41-33. Jones responded with a trey of her own from the right wing. Freshman Ryan Leaman connected from long range to put Wilson in front 47-34. The Bulldogs ended the night on a 12-2 run. Gov. Mifflin came into the week as the highest scoring team in the Berks League at 53 points per game. Wilson allowed just 15 points in the second half and five in the fourth quarter. “We weren’t worried about it at all. We just knew we had to come contest their shot. They’re gonna shoot. That’s what they do all the time,” remarked Jones. The Mustangs made six 3-pointers and went 11-of-18 from the free throw line. The Bulldogs made seven shots from downtown including three by Jones. She was an all-county selection as a freshman when Wilson ended up (15-9). The Bulldogs were 10-of-18 from the charity stripe. Koenig, who was averaging 15 ppg., finished with a team-high nine points. She was injured with five and a-half minutes to go in the third quarter, but returned in the final period. Senior guard Keira Estrada chipped in with seven points for Gov. Mifflin. Mustangs’ head coach Mike Clark needs ten wins to reach 300 for his career. This is his 12th season in Shillington. Clark was (93-18) over four years at Oley Valley. Wilson coach Chris Gallo picked up career win #255. He was the boys basketball head coach at Schuylkill Valley for 15 seasons. Gallo is in his fourth year with the Bulldogs. Despite winning eleven of their first twelve games, Jones realizes that there’s more work to be done. “We know we have a long way to go. We just have to keep performing and working hard at practice every day,” she said.