Daniel Alcantara takes charge, sends Red Knights back to title game
Daniel Alcantara hit the offensive boards hard Wednesday night. He got to the foul line repeatedly. He ran the floor smoothly and effectively in a non-stop, end-to-end skirmish against Muhlenberg.
The biggest play the Reading High senior made in his team’s 70-54 Berks Conference semifinal win at Santander Arena came with him standing still. He used his feet, not his hands.
When Muhls’ scoring leader Edwin Suarez tried to make a move to the basket from the foul line, the 6-5 Alcantara positioned himself, set his feet and took a charge.
It was Suarez’s fourth foul and he headed to the bench, taking the Muhls’ chances with him.
“Playing for this team, we all love each other and we sacrifice our bodies, no matter what,” Alcantara said. “It was just my time to do it, it was my role, and I did it.”
The fourth-seeded Muhls (18-6) led 44-41 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter when that call went against them. It’s no coincidence that with Suarez off the floor the top-seeded Red Knights (21-3) scored the next eight points and took command for good.
They had trailed much of the night and couldn’t quite match Muhlenberg’s intensity and fury. They had trouble containing the always-energized Suarez, who played volleyball on the boards; he grabbed 20 rebounds, seven on the offense end.
With him sitting it was a different game. It was like night and day.
“We know when Edwin’s out there’s a higher chance of us getting on a run,” said Reading junior guard Ruben Rodriguez. “He’s a big-time player, obviously. We know that’s the go-to guy, so we get him out of the game, they start to crumble.”
It happened three times, each one more devastating to the Muhls.
The 6-6 senior picked up his third foul and left the game with 1:13 to go in the first half, his team leading 31-29. The Red Knights ended the half with the final four points.
When he picked up his fourth foul Reading responded with an 8-0 run and went up 49-44, its biggest lead to that point.
When Suarez left the game for good with 3:12 left the Red Knights went on a 9-0 run, turning the game into a rout.
With their All-Berks center on the floor the Muhls had a 50-49 advantage. Without him? They were outscored 21-4. No great mystery there.
“When he came out the game at the end, they had like four turnovers in a row,” Rodriguez said, “so we just kept taking advantage of him being out. We saw the longer he was he out, the worse they started playing.”
Suarez had 21 points in the win over Reading a week earlier. This time he managed just nine points and didn’t score a basket over the final 11 minutes. The Red Knights paid a lot more attention to him this time. They sent an array of defenders at him: Xavier Davis, Amier Burdine, Joey Chapman and, briefly, Alcantara.
Alcantara wanted the match-up against his old Reading teammate but Perez didn’t want to expose him to potential foul trouble — he needs his offense too much — so he limited those minutes.
Alcantara had the assignment for what became the game’s pivotal play.
“Daniel did a great job to take the charge,” Perez said. “He did an amazing job. I thought he was the man (tonight). I thought him and Justin Walker (who provided six points and five boards) were difference-makers.”
Suarez was limited to 10 shots; most of those came from offensive boards. Other than that Reading’s defenders kept a body on him, pushed him away from the basket and closed off lanes.
“Edwin, you just can’t stop him, he’s too skilled for that,” Alcantara said, “you can only slow him down. I wouldn’t say we did the best job to slow him down, but we did enough to secure the win.”
The win sends Reading back to the championship game for the second straight year and seventh time in eight seasons. They’ll meet second-seeded Berks Catholic, a 41-40 survivor against Exeter, in the championship game Friday at Santander at 8.
Reading fell in last year’s Berks title game to Wilson, 55-53; it came back two weeks later to beat the Bulldogs in the district title game, then went on to their second PIAA Class 6A championship in five seasons.
Wednesday’s second game might’ve looked like the BCIAA championship game — it was played at a high level by two talented teams — but Perez wasn’t about to get ahead of himself. He knows the job isn’t finished yet. He’ll spend the next two days trying to impress that on his players.
“You saw how these guys walked off the floor, poised, ready,” he said. “They know there’s 32 minutes more that we need to go to achieve our goal.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 16 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 54 |
| Reading High | 11 | 22 | 16 | 21 | 70 |
| Muhls (18-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Suarez | 4-10 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 20 | 9 |
| Mosquera | 6-12 | 3-4 | 2-5 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Alexis | 1-7 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Tomlinson | 2-8 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
| Robertson | 1-4 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Branch | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jackson | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Alcantara | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Valentin | 3-6 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Adonis | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 20-59 | 8-16 | 6-16 | 3 | 42/46 | 54 |
| Red Knights (21-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| R. Rodriguez | 7-13 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| Grey | 1-7 | 1-4 | 1-3 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Davis | 6-7 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Alcantara | 8-16 | 10-13 | 1-2 | 0 | 8 | 27 |
| Chapman | 3-6 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| A. Rodriguez | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Walker | 2-6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Totals | 27-58 | 14-26 | 2-7 | 6 | 30/35 | 70 |
Turnovers: Muhlenberg 21, Reading High 11.