Relentless Red Knights rally, reclaim Reading Holiday Tournament title
Next week, when Devon Prep gets into the teeth of its Philadelphia Catholic League schedule against past state champs such as Neumann-Goretti, Archbishop Wood and Roman Catholic it’ll see the kind of fullcourt intensity and defensive pressure Reading High unleashed Thursday night.
Through its first eight games — seven of them wins — the Tide hadn’t faced anything quite like what the Red Knights had in store.
“You can’t practice for this,” said Devon coach Jason Fisher after watching his defending PIAA Class 3A champs turn it over 24 times in a 58-50 loss to the unbeaten Red Knights in the championship game of the Reading Holiday Tournament.
“You can throw 10 guys on the court and you’re still not gonna get ready for this environment,” Fisher said.
Fisher’s team had a big head start, too, racing to a 13-point lead in the first quarter.
Ruben Rodriguez and his guys barely blinked. They just put their heads down and went to work, as they seem to do every time they’re on the court.
“Everyone on our team can play defense, and that’s what we pride ourselves on,” said the two-time All-State guard. “When we really locked down on that, that’s what really separated (us).”
Ty Mishock and his Tide teammates couldn’t seem to miss in the opening minutes. He hit a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 start. A few minutes later he hit back-to-back 3’s — both from distance — and Devon Prep (7-2) led 15-2.
“They threw the first punch,” said Reading senior Myles Grey. “Last year (in a win over Reading in the same tournament) they did the same thing. We had to bounce back. We just took to the fight.”
Grey landed most of the decisive punches. With his backcourt mate Rodriguez struggling through a rare off shooting night Grey took it upon himself to carry the offensive load.
He did the same thing three weeks ago against Cardinal O’Hara, another Catholic League foe. The Red Knights (9-0) fell behind by 19 in that one. With Rodriguez in foul trouble — he picked up his fourth personel with 11 minutes to go — Grey went to work and scored 20 points.
He was even better Wednesday, knocking down 4-of-6 3-pointers and scoring a game- and seson-high 28 points to earn tournament MVP honors. Rodriguez, who finished with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds, and senior Aris Rodriguez joined him on the all-tournament team.
Amier Burdine, a senior forward who helped spearhead the defensive effort, could’ve been considered for that all-tournament list, too. He had half-a-dozen steals and, like Grey, was pivotal once the Red Knights racheted up their on-ball pressure early in the second quarter.
They sped up the game, attacked Devon ballhandlers further from the basket and took away their cutting lanes. The Tide scored just one field goal in the first seven minutes of the second quarter and went into halftime with a mere two-point lead.
It was only a matter of time after that.
“They don’t look at the score,” Fisher said of the Red Knights. “They just take it one play at a time, and that feeds into the next play, and the next play. They never give up.
“Last year when we played them it was very similar. We were up big (22-5 after one period) and they came back and we were lucky enough to hold on. They did the same thing to O’Hara. Play by play, they get there; they never give up.”
Never, ever, ever. It’s just not part of the Red Knights’ DNA.
Just go back to last year and their final game, against Archbishop Wood, for a reminder. They trailed by 25 points early in the PIAA Tournament second-round game and were within two in the final minute before losing 64-58. Wood advanced to the state final.
“It would never go through our minds to give up,” Burdine said after that one.
“We’ve been through this a lot,” Reading coach Rick Perez said Wednesday. “You can’t be upset. The first quarter was the first quarter; you’ve got to fight through the whole game.”
Perez has four seniors in his starting lineup. Two of them — Grey and Ruben Rodriguez — were starters on Reading’s 2020 PIAA Class 6A championship team. Burdine joined them in the starting lineup for last year’s District 3 championship run.
A 15-2 deficit might look like a mountain to lesser teams; to these guys it’s but a molehill.
“They know how to win,” Perez said of his seniors. “They’ve been there. They know what it takes.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Devon Prep | 16 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 50 |
| Reading High | 7 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 58 |
| Tide (7-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Orchard | 2-5 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| Doyle | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Holloway | 2-7 | 4-6 | 0-3 | 0 | 3 | 98 |
| Mishock | 6-9 | 9-10 | 6-7 | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| Costello | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Scarpulla | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craft | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Harrer | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 13-31 | 17-20 | 7-18 | 3 | 25-29 | 50 |
| Red Knights (9-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Cruz | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| R. Rodriguez | 4-15 | 5-6 | 1-7 | 4 | 9 | 14 |
| Grey | 11-19 | 2-3 | 4-6 | 1 | 1 | 28 |
| Rodriguez | 2-7 | 4-5 | 1-4 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Osumanu | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Sosa | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 19-50 | 13-17 | 7-19 | 8 | 21-27 | 58 |
Turnovers: Devon Prep 24, Reading High 15.
