Red Knights ring in third PIAA championship, and do it in style
HERSHEY — Reading High played it cool in overtime Saturday, no one more so than Myles Grey.
The senior, three-year starter came up with a loose ball out of a scramble, was fouled with 11.4 seconds left, then cooly sank a pair of clinching free throws against Roman Catholic in the PIAA Class 6A championship at Giant Center.
Then Grey calmly pantomimed slipping on a ring to symbolize the Red Knights’ latest championship, a 63-56 thriller before more than 5,000 boisterous fans and a state-wide television audience.
“You probably got a good picture of that, didn’t you?” Grey joked afterward, his head dripping with water after a locker room celebration, the net draped around his neck, a gold medal dangling on his chest.
The Red Knights were nearly picture-perfect as they took down the defending state champs, a much bigger team led by St. Joseph’s recruit and All-State pick Xzayvier Brown.
For the second time in three years they knocked off a favored Philly Catholic League opponent and they did it in Reading style: They scrapped for it.
Despite giving up a couple inches at nearly every spot in the floor they out-rebounded the Cahillites 32-29. They hit the floor more often and won more 50-50 balls. And they guarded, holding Roman (27-4) to a dozen points below its season average and to just three 3-pointers.
“We put everything on the line today,” said All-State guard Ruben Rodriguez, “and maybe (Roman) didn’t take it as (seriously) as I do, but this means the world to us. This is everything, so we did whatever we had to take this dub. And I’m just happy we did it the way we did.”
The Red Knights (32-1), who matched the Berks record for wins in a season, were in trouble at the end of regulation after the Cahillites rallied from a nine-point deficit. With his team trailing 53-52, Brown was fouled with 1.7 seconds left. He had made 9-of-11 free throws to that point, and was hitting better than 81 percent for the year, but, with the pro-Reading crowd roaring, he missed the first half of a two-shot foul, letting the Red Knights off the hook.
He made the second to send the game into OT but gave the Red Knights new life.
“I knew going into overtime we’d dominate and win the game,” said Grey.
He was right, even though they had to do it without defensive stopper Amier Burdine, who picked up his fifth foul on Brown. With Nick Chapman and Grey taking over defensively on Brown, Reading held Roman without a field goal in the extra four minutes and didn’t allow a point over the final 2 ½ minutes.
Yadiel Cruz was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound and hit both ends of a one-and-one with 1:24 left to tie it at 56. He hit 1-of-2 20 seconds later to give Reading the lead for good.
Aris Rodriguez followed with a pair of three throws with 24 seconds left before Grey clinched it with a pair. Overall, Reading was good on 8-of-10 from the line in OT (after making just 8-of-14 in regulation).
The state championship is Reading’s second in three years and third in seven years, going back to Lonnie Walker’s senior season in 2017. Roman has won two in that span.
“A lot of people don’t like to look at us when you talk about (the top programs in) PA basketball,” Ruben Rodriguez said, “but now you have to.”
The championship was the seventh for Rodriguez, Grey and the Red Knights over the past three seasons, counting county, districts and states.
“Listen, we’re doing something right . . . we’re doing something right,” said Rick Perez, who was named Pennsylvania’s Class 6A Coach of the Year after each of the first two state titles and likely will be again after this one. “There’s just magic going on on The Hill.”
Reading hadn’t beaten Roman Catholic since 1975, losing 11 straight – easily the most lopsided series record in Red Knights history.
They needed to be at their best to win the game, and they were. They passed the ball beautifully, coming up with 13 assists on 20 baskets – seven of them from Ruben Rodriguez. The 2,000-point scorer didn’t have his best offensive night, and finished with just eight points, but the Red Knights got huge performances off their bench from Chapman, Cruz and Jedaya Ortgega, who provided back-to-back baskets during a 9-0 second-quarter run that put Reading up 21-13.
“They made every play that they needed to make,” said Perez, “and it was just beautiful to be a part of.”
Cruz had six points and three boards and Chapman made one big play after another. He hit a huge 3-pointer in overtime and set up a memorable ending sequence for the Red Knights. He came up with a steal in the final seconds of OT and fired upcourt to Aris Rodriguez, who punctuated the victory with a slam dunk just before the final buzzer.
That capped Reading’s 9-0 finishing run.
Aris Rodriguez finished with 16 points and Grey had 14. Brown scored a game-high 23 but made just 5-of-14 shots, and just 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
Roman was short-handed after entering the state tournament minus a pair of starters, Jermai Stewart-Herring, a second-team all-league guard who’s second on the team in scoring, and Erik Oliver-Bush, a 6-4 guard. Neither was eligible for PIAA postseason play after transferring to Roman before this season.
The Red Knights ended more than a century of frustration when they broke through in 2017 to win their first state championship. Fueled by McDonald’s All-American Lonnie Walker IV, the Red Knights beat Pine-Richland 64-60, with Walker — the Red Knights’ all-time leading scorer — producing a game-high 22 points.
The Red Knights returned four years later and pulled off one of the greatest upsets in PIAA Tournament history as they bested nationally ranked Archbishop Wood — a Philly All-Star team stocked with four Division I players — 58-57. Ruben Rodriguez scored 12 points and started in the backcourt alongside Myles Grey.
“In 2017, you have no idea whether you’re ever gonna make it back here,” Perez said. “You just had to cherish every single moment.”
There were many great moments Saturday. Like the past two championships, they’ll remain indelible.
Said Grey: “I’ll always look back on this day with a smile on my face.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
| Reading HIgh | 12 | 11 | 20 | 10 | 10 |
| Roman Catholic | 10 | 9 | 20 | 14 | 3 |
| Red Knights (32-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Cruz | 1-1 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| R. Rodriguez | 2-7 | 3-4 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| Grey | 4-11 | 4-5 | 2-5 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| A Rodriguez | 5-13 | 3-7 | 3-6 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| Osumanu | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Chapman | 3-6 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Ortega | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Totals | 20-48 | 16-24 | 7-15 | 13 | 28-33 | 63 |
| Cahillites (27-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Brown | 5-14 | 12-15 | 1-6 | 3 | 4 | 23 |
| Cottrell | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Finkley | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Sh. Jackson | 7-12 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 11 | 17 |
| Hillman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jackson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-38 | 19-25 | 3-12 | 7 | 25-29 | 56 |
Turnovers: Reading High 18, Roman Catholic 16.Fouled out: Burdine, Felder, Cottrell.
