Reluctant hero Josh McKoy hits the big shot that helps Saints finish off Bulldogs
Josh McKoy is that rare basketball player who doesn’t shoot enough.
His coach at Berks Catholic, Snip Esterly, urges him every game to take more 3-pointers, but the 6-3 junior has seemed reluctant.
“You should see him in practice,” said Esterly. “He’s a great shooter.”
McKoy took just one 3-pointer Thursday in the Saints’ key Berks Conference crossover win against Wilson, and it was a big one.
The Saints were up one with 4 1/2 minutes to go. McKoy was alone in the left corner. This time he didn’t hesitate. He knocked it down, sparking a late run that lifted Berks Catholic to a 49-44 victory before an SRO crowd at cozy Wolf Gymnasium.
“I had to hit that shot,” McKoy insisted. “It was meant to be.”
It was just his sixth 3-pointer of the season. In a lineup full of seniors, among them two of the league’s top outside threats in Ryan Koch and Jack Miller, McKoy often defers to his teammates — despite his coach’s wishes.
It’s not like he hasn’t done it before. He knocked down 22 3’s in 26 games last season for Antietam, which reached the the District 3 Class 2A championship game.
“He tells me all the time (to shoot the 3),” McKoy said of Esterly. “I’m very hesitant; I need to get over that.”
The Berks II-leading Saints (7-1, 14-1) needed every one of McKoy’s six points, six rebounds and three blocked shots after falling behind at the outset.
Aidan Melograna had a pair of early baskets and Seamus Breslin hit a 3-pointer to give Wilson (5-2 Berks I, 12-4) a 12-0 lead with 3:39 left in the first period.
Not the way you like to start a rivalry game against a tough foe.
“We came out unprepared,” McKoy said. “We were all over the place.”
The Saints quickly regrouped. After going scoreless for the first 4 1/2 minutes of the game they scored 10 points before the first quarter ended, then used a 12-0 run to take their first lead at 24-23 midway through the second.
“We’ve got some seasoned seniors,” Esterly said of Koch, Miller and All-Berks guard Josiah Jordan. “I think that helped. Being on our court helped. They just slowly chipped away. They knew things would (eventually) go (our way).”
After the Saints’ big run the game went back and forth over the next 15 minutes, just as you figured it would between two of the league’s best team. The game was tied four times over the second, third and fourth quarters. The lead changed hands four times, the last time when Koch hit the last two of a three-shot foul with 5:38 left to make it 42-41.
McKoy’s 3-ball pushed the lead to 45-41. Next time down the Saints spread the floor, then ran a clear-out for McKoy’s little brother Kingston, who has emerged as the league’s top freshman. Even though the play broke down Kingston had the wherewithal to stick with it and make something good happen.
“You’ve gotta live in the moment,” Josh McKoy said, “you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. He took it to the rack and — boom — he hit a layup.”
That gave Berks Catholic a 47-41 lead with 3:03 left.
“It’s incredible to watch,” Esterly said of the younger McKoy. “I see it every day at practice: He’s special.”
Both of the McKoys played big roles on defense. Kingston, who’s about 6-1 but plays bigger, guarded Wilson’s top scorer, Aidan Melograna, much of the game.
The Bulldogs scored 19 points in the first quarter and had 32 by half. They scored just 12 points and made five field goals in the second half.
“We had success shooting the ball early in the game,” said Wilson coach Matt Coldren, “but a lot of those were after a lot of ball movement and our guys were wide open. The second half, we got away from that. We were taking jumpers after one or two passes, which helped Berks Catholic. They didn’t have to guard as long. We had some guys taking 3’s that we don’t want taking 3’s.”
The Bulldogs hit three 3’s in the first quarter but were 1-for-12 from 3-point range in the second half and 0-for-8 in the fourth quarter.
“We re-took the lead (41-40 by) taking it to the rim and attacking,” Coldren said. “And then we had five straight trips where we shot 3’s. Ultimately, that’s what did us in.”
Josiah Jordan scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for Berks Catholic. Koch had 10 points. Melograna led Wilson with 14 points. Madyx Gruber had eight points and seven rebounds.
The win was Berks Catholic’s second straight over Wilson after five straight losses in the series. The Bulldogs lead the hotly contested series 7-6.
The teams could possibly meet again this season, perhaps in a league semifinal three weeks from now. Maybe by then Josh McKoy — who likes to think of himself as a pass-first player — won’t be as reluctant to fire away.
“I’ve been trying to get him to shoot three to five 3’s a game,” Esterly said, “he just doesn’t. I want him, if he’s open, to look for it.”‘
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson | 19 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 44 |
| Berks Catholic | 10 | 20 | 10 | 7 | 49 |
| Bulldogs (12-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Jones | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Gruber | 3-7 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| Harding | 2-9 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Melograna | 6-14 | 0-0 | 2-9 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Odiale | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Breslin | 3-6 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Pena | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hunsicker | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 18-49 | 4-5 | 4-18 | 5 | 27-27 | 44 |
| Saints (14-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Geddio | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan | 6-14 | 2-5 | 0-2 | 1 | 9 | 14 |
| Koch | 3-9 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Miller | 3-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| J. McKoy | 4-6 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| K. McKoy | 2-3 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Lawlor | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nein | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Totals | 19-42 | 8-14 | 3-13 | 6 | 27-30 | 49 |
Turnovers: Wilson 7, Berks Catholic 8.
