Myles Grey: ‘I knew I could light it up’
As a shooter, Myles Grey knows there’s only one way to get out of a slump.
“You’ve got to shoot your way out,” the Reading High senior guard said Saturday afternoon.
And so he did. He stayed even longer than usual after practice each day this week, putting up shot after shot after shot, trying to find his groove. He had made just three 3-pointers during the Red Knights’ previous five games. He’s usually good for triple that number.
“It’s just (a matter of) getting back into the flow,” Grey said, “getting my shooter’s confidence again. I knew if I hit a few (shots in practice) I’d be good.”
Grey was good Saturday in the Red Knights’ PIAA Tournament opener. Very good. Almost perfect, in fact.
He knocked down his first eight 3-point attempts and matched his career-high with 30 points in an amazing shooting performance that lifted Reading High over Haverford 74-43 in a Class 6A first round game at the Geigle.
The All-Berks guard finished 8-of-9 from 3-point range and 11-of-14 shooting overall. He didn’t miss from beyond the arc until the early minutes of the fourth quarter — and even that one almost dropped before rimming out.
“That should’ve counted,” joked Reading coach Rick Perez, “it was at the bottom.”
Now Grey, who set a program record last season with 10 treys against Twin Valley, is back at the top of his game. And that’s great news for the District 3 champion Red Knights (28-1), who take a 19-game winning streak into a second-round match-up Wednesday against Upper Darby, a 66-64 winner at Bethlehem Liberty. Upper Darby (19-8) finished sixth in the District 1 Tournament.
Grey struggled with his shot throughout the playoffs; he made just 3-of-11 against Cumberland Valley in the district title game and 2-of-10 against Exeter in the Berks championship game. He lost confidence from long range and pulled back, not taking as many 3’s as he usually does.
He opened the game Saturday with a 3-pointer on Reading’s first possession; just like that he was cured.
“I knew going into today I could light it up,” he said. “I knew from that first shot that I was feeling (it). Warm-ups, (shooting) before the game . . . I knew it was gonna be a good day.”
Grey was the headliner in what became a 3-point shootout. During one stretch late in the first quarter seven straight baskets came from 3-point range, four of them by the Fords (14-14), who hung around for a while before falling far off the pace in the second quarter. Overall, the teams combined for 22 treys at a sizzling 65 percent clip.
Googie Seidman carried Haverford, which finished 12th in the District 1 Tournament. He scored 27 points and knocked down 7-of-11 shots from 3-point range, several from 25 feet and beyond. He scored Haverford’s first 19 points of the second half.
Ruben Rodriguez hit 3-of-5 from 3-point range and finished with 19 points, a game-high 10 rebounds and a game-high six assists. Reading was good on 12-of-18 shots from 3-point range; Haverford made 10-of-16.
Grey was the guy everyone was watching and looking for. He was feeling it so much that in the second half he stood out beyond the arc and started calling for the ball, something the point guard never does.
“When he’s calling for it, you give that to him, no matter what,” said Rodriguez.
Grey pumped in four 3’s in the third quarter, the last from well beyond 20 feet. That was Grey’s 27th point, and it made the score 64-27.
He tied Haverford again at 30-30 with his final 3 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before coming out of the game.
“Myles just did a really good job of finding his shots and knocking ’em down,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been waiting for that; he finally just let it loose on everyone. He’s been working really hard, trying to get his groove back, and I feel he’s got it back.”
“He was very selective and very efficient,” Perez said. “Those were open shots; those were in-rhythm shots, nothing forced. He just felt it.”
Grey set the program record for 3-pointers when he made 10-of-16 against Twin Valley. The only other player in Reading history with more than eight 3’s in a game is David Lawson, who established the program record with nine against Conrad Weiser in the 2006-07 season. Grey also hit seven in a game last season. He owns three of Reading’s top six 3-point shooting games.
The games will get tougher from here on, for sure. The shots won’t keeping falling for Grey like they did Saturday, but a bunch will.
“I’m just starting out March on the right foot, having a great first game of states,” he said. “It’s just about momentum now. Hopefully, it carries over into the second round and that momentum keeps building.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Haverford | 15 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 43 |
| Reading High | 22 | 18 | 26 | 8 | 74 |
| Fords (14-14) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Wiener | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Wright | 3-8 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Seidman | 9-19 | 2-2 | 7-11 | 1 | 5 | 27 |
| Gannon | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Heinrichs | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bright | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Steigleman | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Cascurina | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 15-37 | 3-4 | 10-16 | 3 | 16-18 | 43 |
| Red Knights (28-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Grey | 11-14 | 0-0 | 8-9 | 3 | 4 | 30 |
| R. Rodriguez | 8-16 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 6 | 10 | 19 |
| A Rodriguez | 4-10 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Osumanu | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Cruz | 3-4 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Ortega | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Chapman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Sosa | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burgess | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Samuels | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johan | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 30-54 | 2-5 | 12-18 | 12 | 29-29 | 74 |
Turnovers: Haverford 23, Reading High 10.
