Kya Washington, Red Knights, are back in the playoffs

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

The last time Reading High walked into this gym, Kya Washington never stepped on the floor. She didn’t even sit on the bench. The All-Berks guard was parked in the bleachers filming the action with an iPad.

That was Washington’s junior season. Her lost season. Because of COVID-19 concerns, she only appeared in one game.

Take basketball away from any player and there’s a void. Take it away from Washington and the pain runs deeper. This is a kid who plays all the time. In the rain. In the cold. Wherever there’s a rim and a ball.

Then, because of a pandemic, it was gone.

“I remember watching my team suffer without me on the court,” Washington said. “It hurt. It hurt me a lot.”

Washington has returned for her senior season and showed she can still be a dominant force. The 5-8 guard scored 25 points to help Reading knock off Gov. Mifflin 64-52 in a Berks I matchup at Shillington Wednesday night.

This was a complete performance. Washington shot 8-for-14 from the field, 5-for-7 from the line and made four 3-pointers. It was the kind of performance All-Berks players can deliver.

“She’s one of my hardest workers,” Reading coach Rashida Suber said. “She and Ashantin Chapman are the first in the gym and the last to leave. Off days they want to be in the gym. She has put in the extra hours. If she could sleep in the gym, she would.”

Washington burst onto the scene when she was a sophomore. She played with the ease of an athlete who has been in a million pickup games. It all seemed so carefree. So effortless.

In the closing seconds of the county semifinals two years ago, Washington made a steal at the buzzer to clinch a victory against Berks Catholic. She nonchalantly dropped the ball and walked off like it was no big deal.

The sky was the limit back then. One couldn’t help but wonder what Washington could achieve with her two remaining seasons? Those two seasons became one.

“I couldn’t wait to get back on the floor and play with my team,” Washington said. “That’s all I was worried about.”

Washington is averaging 13 points, slightly more than her All-Berks season, and has drilled 25 3-pointers. She has played in all but one game. She’s guiding the Red Knights on a late-season push.

Reading (6-6, 12-10) locked down a spot in the county playoffs by defeating Harrisburg Tuesday night. That gave the Red Knights the power ranking boost they needed to vault into the field.

Suber knew it. People who follow girls basketball closely knew it. The girls wearing red and black Wednesday night didn’t know it. The coach kept their playoff scenarios secret.

“When you tell your senior players that this could potentially be the last time you wear the uniform, you set the bar right there,” Suber said. “That’s the mindset we had coming in here. They didn’t know anything about the playoffs.”

Suber kept waiting for someone to say something to her. Someone who crunched the numbers or saw the information on social media. No one did. Reading charged onto the court thinking the Mifflin game was its last chance. What followed was the Red Knights’ most impressive win to date.

Washington had her fingerprints all over it. She sparked a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that stretched Reading’s lead to 14. She scored eight points in 46 seconds.

“I feel like I take more control now,” Washington said. “I’m a leader on the court. I have more energy.”

Not long after Reading disappeared into its locker room, a stunning 12-point victory in hand, Suber gave the girls the news. The screams were so loud they could be heard in the hallway outside of the gym.

There was no need to turn in those uniforms just yet. There was another game Saturday in the county quarterfinals.

“I appreciate you guys,” Suber told her players. “You guys played hard. You showed what Reading High basketball really is. You guys are in the playoffs.”

The reaction? Pure joy.

Reading was the No. 6 seed when it beat the odds and reached the final two years ago. The Red Knights are going to be a handful in the tournament again this time. Their aggressive, attacking style can flummox opponents who haven’t seen it. Or opponents who have.

Washington remembers what it was like to play under the bright lights at Santander Arena. She was one of the stars during the last postseason that featured games downtown.

“We’ve got more to go,” Washington said. “This ain’t the last win.”

Part of Suber’s job is keeping her players on track outside of the gym. That meant helping Washington navigate her lost season.

“I know last year was really hard for her,” Suber said. “She was really down. This is what we do. We bring her back in and keep her around something she loves. As long as there’s basketball, she’ll be there.”

No matter how many games Reading has left, Washington will be on the court. That’s where she belongs.