Joey Chapman comes up big to lead Reading High back to district title game
Joey Chapman came into Reading High’s basketball program as a flashy point guard who dazzled with no-look passes.
Over the ensuing seasons he has evolved, transforming himself physically and playing different roles for the Red Knights.
His coach, Rick Perez, says the 6-1 senior has a tool box of various skills and Tuesday he pulled them all out, changing the game with his physical post defense in a 46-39 win over visiting Cedar Cliff that sent the top-seeded Red Knights back to the District 3 Class 6A championship game for the fifth straight season.
“Joey’s so versatile,” said Perez. “He can play on the perimeter, he can play on the post. We know physically no one can match up with him — he’s the strongest guy on the court, that’s a guarantee.”
Chapman put that muscle to work, throwing his hips and back and everything he had into 6-9 center Tyler Houser, the Colts’ top scorer and rebounder and a guy who knocked Muhlenberg out of the playoffs last week with a 25-point effort.
“I just had to bring my dog out, my physicality,” said Chapman, who took turns with center Xavier Davis defending Houser.
They each had the same approach, and it worked. Houser, a VMI recruit, got off just two shots in the first half, was pulled from the game a couple times and was scoreless at intermission.
He scored 10 second-half points, helping the fifth-seeded Colts (21-5) rally from a 15-point deficit, but Chapman and Davis made sure he never took control and never got anything easy.
“Things down there, they get a little physical,” said Davis, at 6-2 the tallest player Reading put on the court. “That’s all a part of the game. We made sure we were smart, and we made sure we brought it.”
They kept a body, or two or three, on him at all times and challenged him for every rebound.
“I was just trying to make sure he didn’t get to the spots he wants,” said Chapman. “My goal was to not let him get there. From the film I watched, (I could tell) he doesn’t like to get touched, so that’s what I did.”
While Chapman and Davis neutralized Houser on the interior Ruben Rodriguez, Myles Grey and Reading’s guards caused havoc on the outside. They pressured the Colts into seven first-quarter turnovers, and 19 for the game; they never let them get close to being comfortable.
“They were just locked in, 100 percent,” Perez said of the defensive effort. “There wasn’t a pass out there that was easy, and that’s what we really wanted.”
The Colts had just 24 points through three quarters and failed to reach 40 points for the first time this season.
“We wanted to make it difficult for (Houser),” Perez said. “He’s an All-State player, he’s amazing. For us to hold him to zero at the half, that’s phenomenal. With a bunch of 6-1 guys?”
The Red Knights, and Chapman in particular, played at an emotional pitch. They were inspired by the loss of teammate Daniel Alcantara, who’s headed for surgery Thursday after breaking his hand last week in a quarterfinal against Wilson.
He’s a huge loss for many reasons — he’s the Red Knights’ leading rebounder, No. 2 scorer, one of their top outside threats and, at 6-5, their tallest player. He was relied on for, among other things, interior defense, the kind needed against a team that features Houser and his 6-10 sophomore brother Justin.
He’s also a brother to his teammates. They were devastated when he was injured Friday; many of them were in tears after the game. They have used his loss as a driving force to play even harder, if that’s possible.
The Red Knights players and coaches took the floor for warm-ups wearing T’s that had Alcantara’s No. 21 across the front. Chapman switched from No. 22 to 21 and plans to wear that for the rest of the playoffs.
“It was messing with my mind,” Chapman said of Alcantara’s injury, “but we put that to the side today and just played for him and bigger things. We knew we had to step up; it’s even harder that he’s not on the court, so that’s what we all did.”
Rodriguez scored a game-high 21 point and hit four straight free throws in the final minute to turn back Cedar Cliff’s comeback bid. Aris Rodriguez came off the bench and contributed four early steals and five first-quarter points, helping the Red Knights (24-3) build a 15-point first-half lead.
Even though it got close at the end the Red Knights were in control the whole way. Several times, including late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, they took the air out of the ball, hoping to force the Colts out of their 2-3 zone.
Now they head to Giant Center for the championship game Saturday at 7:45. They’ll play seventh-seeded Warwick (19-5), which had little trouble knocking off No. 2 Cumberland Valley, 74-57.
Whether or not they can continue to play with this kind of passion to compensate for the loss of an All-State talent such as Alcantara remains to be seen. That will be the storyline Saturday, and then next week as the PIAA Tournament unfolds.
“We still hope he comes back,” Chapman said of Alcantara, “but right now we’ll go play with the team we have and play with a different intensity.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cedar Cliff | 13 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 39 |
| Reading High | 20 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 46 |
| Colts (21-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Werner | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Frey | 3-5 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Grube | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Smith | 3-8 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| T. Houser | 4-7 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 10 | 10 |
| J. Houser | 3-4 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Armani | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mason | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ford | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 15-31 | 4-4 | 5-12 | 7 | 20/22 | 39 |
| Red Knights (24-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| R.Rodriguez | 6-14 | 8-10 | 1-3 | 2 | 5 | 21 |
| Grey | 3-14 | 0-0 | 1-9 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Davis | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Chapman | 3-7 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| A.Rodriguez | 2-8 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Walker | 1-6 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Totals | 16-53 | 11-16 | 3-20 | 7 | 31/32 | 46 |
Turnovers: Cedar Cliff 19, Reading High 6.