Reading knocks out Downingtown West, gets rematch vs. Archbishop Wood
(This story will be updated later tonight with details and postgame reaction.)
Defense never takes a night off. That’s a common theme in basketball, and for the Reading High Red Knights.
Their shooting was off Wednesday in their PIAA Class 6A opener against Downingtown West but the Red Knights forced enough turnovers and got enough breakout points to survive and advance, beating the Whippets 56-42 at Geigle Complex.
Berks Player of the Year Ruben Rodriguez led the way again, with 23 points and eight steals, helping force a whopping 26 turnovers.
Reading advances to meet Archbishop Wood, a 77-50 winner over Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Saturday in the second round.
Reading beat Wood in last year’s PIAA championship game, 58-57, and also earlier this season 64-58 in a game at the Geigle.
The Whippets, the 12th place team out of District 1, finish at 18-10.
Myles Grey had 11 points for Reading and Xavier Davis had eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Red Knights came out fast, forcing six early turnovers to build a 13-2 lead after 5 1/2 minutes. The Whippets were able to slow the pace after that and seemed to bother Reading with its 2-3 zone, and length in the middle.
The Red Knights struggled to find the range from the field. They were good on just 1-of-11 shots from 3-point range in the first half and saw the Whippets surge ahead 20-16 after Dylan Blair, a 1,000-point scorer, hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Reading took a 23-22 lead into intermission when Ruben Rodriguez found Justin Walker on a backdoor cut with two seconds remaining.
The Red Knights, again playing without one of the best shooters, Daniel Alcantara, made just 9-of-33 shots in the first half. Alcantara is out for the season after breaking his hand in a district playoff game against Wilson.
Myles Grey, who leads Reading with 53 3-pointers, has struggled in recent games from beyond the arc. He was 1-for-6 on 3-point attempts in the first half.
The Whippets (lost three times in four games in the District 1 Tournament, the latest 56-45 to Haverford in the 11th-place game.
District 1 is the deepest in the state when it comes to Big School basketball. It has produced 10 state champions since 2000: Chester (five times), Lower Merion (twice), Coatesville and Penn Wood. Eight other District 1 teams reached the PIAA title game.
The Whippets aren’t seen as a title contender but could prove troublesome because they have the one thing the Red Knights don’t: A big man. Junior Jake Warren is 6-10 and has an offer from St. Joseph’s.
Now that Daniel Alcantara is done for the season Reading’s tallest starters are 6-2 center Xavier Davis and Chapman, who’s also 6-2 and has been assigned to post duty in recent games. Those two did superb work against Cedar Cliff’s twin towers, Tyler and Justin Houser, 6-9 and 6-10, respectively, in a 46-39 district semifinalist victory.
The Whippets’ top player is 5-10 junior guard Dylan Blair, who went over 1,000 career points in the district tournament.
Downingtown West entered the District 1 Tournament as the No. 6 seed but was upset in its first game by No. 22 Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 63-58. Blair scored 25 points in the next round as the Whippets beat Perkiomen Valley 77-68 to clinch a state berth.
The Whippets lost their final two playback games, 61-53 to West Chester East and to Haverford.
Blair scored 24 points in a 60-47 win over Wilson in late January; the Bulldogs played without leading scorer Cameron Jones, who was on a football recruiting trip.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Downingtown West | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 42 |
| Reading High | 13 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 56 |
| Whippets (18-10) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Hardin | 2-9 | 2-2 | 1-6 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Blair | 5-14 | 0-0 | 3-8 | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| Primanti | 2-5 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Warren | 3-5 | 1-01 | 1-1 | 0 | 13 | 98 |
| Shelton | 2-5 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Fromhartz | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Bell | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Poluch | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suarez | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 15-43 | 6-8 | 6-19 | 4 | 35/39 | 42 |
| Red Knights (26-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| R Rodriguez | 8-17 | 7-8 | 0-3 | 2 | 4 | 23 |
| Grey | 4-13 | 0-1 | 3-9 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Davis | 2-6 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Chapman | 2-8 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| A Rodriguez | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Walker | 2-5 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Totals | 20-58 | 13-22 | 3-18 | 13 | 27/34 | 56 |
Turnovers: Dowingtown West 26, Reading High 9.