Berkshire County sent two girls basketball teams to the MIAA State Championships last weekend, and those two squads represent nearly half of The Eagle's 15 All-Berkshire members.

It was an incredible season for both Pittsfield High and Drury, but when the two met during the regular season, it was the Generals doing what they did all season long and winning, 55-27. And so, we begin with a whopping three members of the MIAA D-III State Finalist Generals on The Eagle's All-Berkshire First Team.

PHS realigned up into the toughest league in Western Mass. and one of the stiffest in the state, with three of the teams playing championship weekend in Lowell, and still won 20 games. 

Seniors Harolyn Castillo and Kyana Summers are All-Berkshire First Teamers for the second straight season. In fact, this is the third First Team nod for Castillo, who scored her 1,000th career point this winter (1,158) and anchored an undersized unit against some of the biggest and strongest opponents in Massachusetts.

Castillo averaged over 13 points per game and around that many rebounds as well, while holding down the middle of Pittsfield's vaunted defense.

At the head of that defense, though, was Summers, who did more than a little bit of everything for coach Kristy Conyers' squad. Summers packed the stat sheet full of assists, steals, rebounds and still cleared 229 points. That mark included a eye-popping 19 in the win that got PHS over the Final Four hump and into the state championship game.

The responsibility for Pittsfield's core elevating a level, however, belongs with sophomore Caprese Conyers. The lightning quick guard averaged 16.5 points per game, second in the county, and ticked that up over 17 a night in the playoffs. She put in 20 points back-to-back in the Western Mass. semis and finals, and then dropped 22 on North Reading to bring PHS its second straight Final Four trophy.

The only girl standing between Conyers and the 2025-26 scoring title was Wahconah senior Madison McCarthy. McCarthy averaged 16.7 points per game and canned 75 3-pointers, dwarfing her competition to lead the Berkshires.

Amongst her scoring onslaught, McCarthy crossed the 1,000-point threshold, had nine 20-point games and buried rival Hoosac Valley with 31 back on Jan. 9. She had 40 across two statement wins at the Hoophall Invitational and managed 21 and 20 in losses to state title contenders PHS and South Hadley.

McCarthy's 1,191 career points put her 36th all-time in Berkshire County girls basketball.

That is the company that Lee freshman Giana Carlino now finds herself in. After bursting onto the scene as an eighth-grader with over 330 points last winter, Carlino backed up the breakout with 356 more points, good for 16.2 a game. 

Carlino led Lee to an unbeaten Franklin North League title and the No. 5 seed in Division V statewide. While an injury took her out of the Western Mass. semis, on one leg she took on powerhouse Drury and scored 17 of her team's 27 points in the title match. She also had a 37-point game and was nearly unguardable getting to the basket.

Second Team

The All-Berkshire Second Team is where we find both the final General and the first Blue Devil, alongside a pair of exciting youngsters and a distinguished senior who went out with a bang.

Pittsfield's Bre'Jai Ellerbee, Drury's Delaney Hayden, Lenox's Grace Julieano, Mount Greylock's Tanley Drake and Hoosac Valley's Genevieve Lagess comprise the Second Team.

Ellerbee, a senior, was a focal point of the PHS press defense that disrupted anyone and everyone unlucky enough to be tasked with bringing the ball up the court. Her 25 3-pointers also bolstered the PHS offense for stretches, tying for 10th in the county in made 3s. She put in 15, 19 and 17 points over a three-game stretch of wins over Minnechaug, Northampton and Wahconah.

Hayden's strong season came to an unfortunate close mired by an illness that sapped a lot of her production in the Final Four and championship games. Despite those two struggles, she led the Devils in scoring with 199 points and her 43 3-pointers were second most in the county. A long-armed defender with a quick release and nose for the rim, Hayden had season-high 18 points in the win that delivered a Final Four trophy to Drury.

On a roster chock full of youth and lacking heavily in experience, Julieano steadied the ship for coach Nicole Patella at Lenox. The senior post scored 247 points and hit on 27 3-pointers. In a Round of 16 upset of rival Lee, she wrestled her way to 22 points. She was in double figures in 11 of her team's final 15 games, while also playing above her size in the paint.

Lagess and Drake are both just sophomores, but showed big things are on the horizon. 

Drake was one of the four county girls to average 16 points per game while leading Mount Greylock back to the state tournament under new head coach Jabari Powell. She opened her season with a 30-point bomb and then hung 21 a night later to grab MVP honors and the Franklin Tech Tip-Off crown for Greylock. Those were the first of seven games with Drake scoring over 20 points while hitting 29 3-pointers this season. 

With 11 points in pushing Drury to its limit in the state quarterfinals, Lagess cleared the 300-point mark on the season. It was a winter of rebuilding for the Hurricanes, but Lagess provided both a salve in the paint and a hope for the future of the storied program. She was a force both down low and bringing the ball up at times, clearing 20 points in three separate games.

Third Team

Two more Blue Devils rose to the top of the All-Berkshire conversation with Third Team designations, in addition to a sudden league champion and two more girls who will be looking to start climbing the list in about eight months.

Drury's Megan McGrath and Ashlyn Hayden, McCann Tech's Faith Brazeau, Hoosac's Reagan Shea and Lee's Mika Diller comprise the All-Berkshire Third Team for this season.

The Blue Devils were so deep and so gritty and both McGrath and Ashlyn Hayden embodied that team identity and rose to the occasion in the postseason. 

With their top scorer hindered or unavailable, Drury didn't miss much of the beat in beating Saint John Paul by 18 in the Final Four. McGrath had 18 points and Ashlyn Hayden 14 in that one. 

Last weekend taking on Hopedale, it was McGrath's fearless effort that stabilized the Blue Devils throughout and kept them in the game long enough to scare the Raiders late. McGrath had 14 in the loss, 147 on the year, while Hayden finished her season with 153 points. Both made more of their impact on the defensive end with Drury a turnover-inducing machine that held teams in the 20s regularly.

Brazeau earns her nod after helping to shoulder the Hornets to new heights. Brazeau's senior campaign featured 176 points, a Tri-County South League title and 11 points in a state tournament win. That win was an unheard of 17th victory of the season for McCann Tech.

Shea formalized herself as an elite scoring threat in Western Mass. clearing 300 points after notching nearly 250 as a third option on the 2025 State Champion Hurricanes. The junior put down 38 3-pointers despite receiving double the attention of years passed. She was in the 20s three times and nearly delivered Hoosac right back into the Western Mass. Finals and MIAA Final Four.

Diller showed some promise as a freshman last winter, and only added to her growing resume as a sophomore. Diller developed a promising 3-pointer, hitting about one a game, while still showing a knack for defending the paint and playing well off Carlino. The two have a chance to continue growing together and getting Lee back into the statewide conversation. In fact, with Carlino injured, Diller put in 27 points in the Class C quarterfinal win.