Ruben Rodriguez rises to the occasion again in Reading High playoff win
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Ruben Rodriguez scored 24 points, had six rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Reading High over Schuylkill Valley 84-34 Monday night in a Berks Conference quarterfinal at the Geigle.
The Red Knights (22-1) played a nearly perfect first quarter in jumping out to a 36-12 lead over the Panthers (17-6). Reading forced 12 turnovers in the quarter and dished out nine assists while not turning the ball over.
“It’s playoff time,” said Rodriguez, the Berks Player of the Year as a junior. “We knew we had to raise our level of play. We came out on fire on both ends of the court and did that tonight.”
The Berks I champs advance to meet Berks I runner-up Wilson in a semifinal Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader at Santander Arena. Reading has won 13 straight games.
Rodriguez, known for his clutch play in big games, is looking to take the Red Knights to a second straight Berks championship.
“It’s Ruben time,” said head coach Rick Perez. “He elevates his game during the playoffs. I was very pleased with our first quarter of play. We shared the ball extremely well, took care of the ball, and caused turnovers on the defensive end.”
Reading scored the first nine points before Kelton Faulk nailed a 3-pointer for the Panthers. With the score 20-8 Reading went on a 16-4 run to end the quarter with Yadiel Cruz scoring all of his 10 points in the run.
The Red Knights used a tenacious full court man-to man defense to force the Panthers into 19 first-half turnovers. Schuylkill Valley was rattled by the press and forced up some quick shots, which allowed the Red Knights to get long rebounds and score on breakouts.
With the score 36-17 midway through the second quarter, the Knights went on a 19-4 run over the final 4:28 of the first half to lead 55-21 at halftime. Rodriguez had 13 points in the run.
Reading’s Myles Grey scored 15 points, pulled down seven rebounds, recorded three steals, and had two assists. Aris Rodriguez scored 14 points and Yadiel Cruz had 10 points to go with two assists, three rebounds and three steals.
For Schuylkill Valley, Dominic Giuffre had seven points and six rebounds. Jacob Zimmerman scored six points and had four rebounds. Faulk had seven rebounds.
The Panthers had not been held below 40 points this season and had allowed more than 70 points just once, in a 78-63 loss at Fleetwood.
Reading beat Wilson twice during the regular season, 44-39 and 56-43.
“We know Wilson well,” Rodriguez said. “They know us well. We just need to raise our level of play and execute like we did tonight.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Schuylkill Valley | 12 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 34 |
| Reading High | 36 | 19 | 14 | 15 | 84 |
| Panthers (17-6) | FG | FT | PTs |
| Rajnath | 0 | 2-2 | 2 |
| Guiffre | 2 | 2-2 | 7 |
| Hohenadel | 2 | 1-3 | 5 |
| Zimmerman | 0 | 6-6 | 6 |
| Faulk | 1 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Gerner | 1 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Spotts | 2 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Johnson | 1 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Torres | 0 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Miley | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Kemmerer | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Dissinger | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 9 | 12-15 | 34 |
| Red Knights (22-1) | FG | FT | PTs |
| R. Rodriguez | 9 | 3-5 | 24 |
| A. Rodriguez | 5 | 2-4 | 14 |
| Grey | 6 | 2-2 | 15 |
| Burdine | 1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Osumanu | 0 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Cruz | 5 | 0-0 | 10 |
| Sosa | 1 | 3-6 | 5 |
| Rosario | 3 | 0-0 | 6 |
| Burgess | 1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Ortega | 1 | 1-2 | 3 |
| Jordan | 1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Totals | 33 | 12-21 | 84 |
3-point field goals: Guiffre, Gerner, Johnson, Faulk; R. Rodriguez 3, A. Rodriguez 2, Grey.Turnovers: Schuylkill Valley 27, Reading 7
