Tamyia Collier’s the Knight for this night as Reading High tops Gov. Mifflin
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Reading High girls basketball coach Rashida Suber doesn’t have a set starting five. The lineup is interchangeable; multiple players are capable of leading the team in scoring any given night.
It was Tamyia Collier’s night Monday as she scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Red Knights to a 59-49 Berks League Division I victory over Gov. Mifflin at Geigle Complex.
“Just running the floor, taking open shots,” Collier said on how she reached a career-high in points. “Making open layups. Getting rebounds and (making) free throws can get you there, too.”
Collier secured 12 rebounds, many of which came on the offensive end. She was unstoppable on the glass, finished multiple putbacks and hit five of nine foul shots. Defensively, she had seven steals.
“I like to be a rebounder and a defensive player,” Collier said.
The effort she puts into those areas paid dividends Monday and were key in the Red Knights pulling away from the defending Berks champions. The sophomore leads her team in scoring at 11.2 points per game; she’s scored in double figures in three straight games as the Red Knights have won three in a row after an 0-2 start.
Reading (2-0, 3-2) also got contributions from Ashanti Chapman (13 points), Yamilex Rodriguez (eight points), and Heavenli Franklin (eight points). The Red Knights have four players averaging nine points or better: Rodriguez (10.6), Laysha Pimental (10.0) and Chapman (9.4).
“You saw it tonight,” Suber said. “Anybody can be ‘The One.’ Surprisingly tonight it was Tamyia AKA ‘Coco.’ We have a number of kids that can do exactly that on any given night.”
The Red Knights needed the balanced scoring effort to offset big games from Shakyla Mayo (20 points) and Anyah Ortiz (18 points) for the Mustangs (1-1, 1-5).
Ortiz had nine of those in the first quarter but Reading’s balance had it leading 14-12 going into the second.
After taking a 26-22 lead into halftime, the Red Knights’ pressure started to wear the Mustangs down. Reading pushed its lead to 10 with 2:17 left in the third and Mifflin didn’t have enough firepower to overcome the deficit.
The Mustangs remain without last season’s leading scorer Taylor Koenig, whose 3-point shooting is sorely missed. Koenig averaged 12.9 points and hit 48 3’s. The junior is dealing with a knee injury and has been wearing a large brace; Gov. Mifflin coach Mike Clark expects her back at some point this season but there is no set timetable for her return.
Next up for Reading is a showdown against Berks Catholic Thursday; both teams enter with 2-0 league records.
“We have the same mindset every year,” Suber said. “And that’s always (to finish) at the top. It’s a long season and we just have to take it game by game.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Gov. Mifflin | 12 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 49 |
| Reading High | 14 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 59 |
| Mustangs (1-1, 1-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Mayo | 5-14 | 9-12 | 1-6 | 1 | 14 | 20 |
| Ortiz | 8-12 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 1 | 10 | 18 |
| Miley | 1-8 | 2-3 | 1-7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Richardson | 1-5 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Witman | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Estrada | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 15-43 | 17-29 | 2-16 | 2 | 39-42 | 49 |
| Red Knights (2-0, 3-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Chapman | 4-15 | 4-5 | 1-6 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| Collier | 9-14 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1 | 12 | 23 |
| Rodriguez | 3-10 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| Pimental | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Hernandez-Albino | 0-5 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Bradley | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Spring | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Matias | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Franklin | 2-8 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 9 | 8 |
| Totals | 21-65 | 16-25 | 1-17 | 9 | 41-47 | 59 |
Turnovers: Reading High 12, Gov. Mifflin 24.
