Red Knights’ glass is still full, despite first loss
No asterisk, no excuses and no cause for concern.
That’s the takeaway from Reading High’s first loss of the season, 75-71 Wednesday to a really good Devon Prep team in the championship game of the Reading Holiday Tournament.
Rick Perez could easily have written this one off, considering he was again short-handed, missing three players, including three-year starters Daniel Alcantara and Joey Chapman.
| All-Tournament team | |
| Luke Orchard (MVP) | Devon Prep |
| Christian Fermin | Pocono Mt. West |
| Nick Coval | Parkland |
| Ruben Rodriguez | Reading High |
| Myles Grey | Reading High |
| IV Pettit | Devon Prep |
He didn’t.
“No, that’s a loss,” said the Red Knights’ coach. “A loss is a loss. Any five can get it done. You made this basketball team, you should be able to take us to a win.”
Perez spent Tuesday night pulling rabbits out of his hat as the Red Knights — playing without Alcantara, their leading scorer, Chapman and key reserve Aris Rodriguez — somehow found a way to control Pocono Mount West and neutralize 6-10 All-State pick Christian Fermin.
One night later they lacked the same energy and the unbeaten Tide (6-0) took full advantage. It scored 19 unanswered points over a six-minute stretch of the first quarter — has anyone ever done that to a good Reading team before? — and essentially won the game then and there.
The Tide hit eight straight shots at one point, led 19-2 and nearly held the Red Knights without a basket for an entire quarter — unthinkable for a team that’s played as well in the early weeks of the season as it did at the end of last year, when it won a PIAA championship.
Myles Grey snuck one in with four seconds to go in the first period but that was negated when IV Pettit hit a running 25-footer at the buzzer to make it 22-5.
“They just beat us to the punch in so many different things,” Perez said.
The Red Knights (6-1) were running uphill the rest of the night. They got within 33-30 late in the first half, after Ruben Rodriguez got it going and dropped some shots. They were within two on Justin Walker’s putback a minute into the second quarter. They finally tied it at 67-67 with 1:45 remaining when Grey found Rodriguez streaking down the court.
“You knew they were gonna make baskets and turn it on,” said Tide coach Jason Fisher, “it was just a matter of us withstanding it.”
In a matter of moments that flash of Reading energy went poof, and so did the perfect start. Pettit, an All-Catholic League first-team pick a year ago, took advantage of a defensive breakdown and went in for a layup and the lead. Then he came up with an incredible steal and Luke Orchard — unstoppable for a long stretch of the second half — buried a 3-pointer, part of his 25-point bonanza.
The Red Knights were down again and pretty much emotionally spent; they had nothing left at that point.
With Alcantara, who’s averaging 18.6 points per game, on the court it’s a different story. Same goes for Chapman, who helps his team in so many ways.
Devon Prep is a really good team. It puts five guys on the court who can all move, handle it and shoot it. They know each other well after making it to the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals last season. They’re a rare team that has the skills to contend with a ball-hawking group like the Red Knights.
“(That team) does every-thing right,” Perez said. “They played beautifully.”
Still, a full Reading roster stems the Tide. Perez didn’t have that luxury Wednesday. He was throwing in young guys who hadn’t seen important minutes yet, relying on key subs to be front-line players. It almost worked again.
Rodriguez finished with 17 points and six assists and guarded Orchard over the final 12 minutes, quieting him down considerably. Walker, a senior who wasn’t on the radar screen a year ago, again played well, providing 16 points and six boards. Junior Amier Burdine, a defensive specialist, scored a career-high 11 points. All five starters hit double figures.
So, you can discount the loss if you wish. In the grand scheme of things it won’t affect what looms as a promising season one bit.
Perez is not discounting anything.
“We fully expected to come out here and win our Christmas Tournament,” he said. “That was one of our goals. There is no asterisk.
“This is a growing opportunity. We’ll make sure we leave this loss here, and grow from it. We had a very successful December. It gave an outline for what we need (to do) to be successful.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Devon Prep | 22 | 18 | 16 | 19 | 75 |
| Reading High | 5 | 29 | 16 | 21 | 71 |
| Devon Prep (6-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| I Pettit | 6-11 | 4-4 | 3-5 | 2 | 9 | 19 |
| Cieslak | 3-11 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Orchard | 11-16 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 0 | 9 | 25 |
| Holloway | 3-8 | 8-8 | 1-1 | 2 | 6 | 15 |
| Mishock | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Kenney | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Scarpullen | 0-1 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 26-50 | 16-21 | 7-16 | 7 | 27/31 | 75 |
Turnovers: 16
| Reading High (6-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| R. Rodriguez | 5-15 | 5-7 | 2-8 | 6 | 3 | 17 |
| Grey | 5-9 | 1-1 | 2-4 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| Davis | 4-7 | 6-9 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 14 |
| Walker | 5-7 | 5-6 | 1-3 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| Burdine | 4-10 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Osumanu | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Sosa | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 23-50 | 20-26 | 5-15 | 11 | 24/25 | 71 |
Turnovers: 10