Two overtimes not too much for Muhls, who finish strong, outlast beat Red Knights
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As far as Kyle Archie is concerned, he and his Muhlenberg teammates could’ve run up and down the court all night if needed in order to beat Reading High.
Sure, the atmosphere was pretty heated in Laureldale Tuesday night but Archie said that was to be expected. Since Matt Flowers left the Red Knights to become head coach of the Muhls two years ago the rivalry between the neighboring schools and Berks I rivals has intensified threefold: It’s now as hot, if not hotter, than the Red Knights’ rivalry against Wilson.
Tuesday was no different with the teams – and their respective fans – battling it out through two overtimes.
The Red Knights scored eight points over the final 61 seconds of regulation to send it to overtime. They scored the final bucket of overtime to send it to a second extra period.
Once there, they were gassed. They missed 9-of-10 shots, saw three players foul out and watched helplessly as the Muhls shot them down at the line, making 13-of-14 free throws over the final three minutes to pull away for an 87-74 victory that kept them tied for first place in Division I of the Berks Conference.
As the game hit the 40-minute mark the Muhls (3-1, 8-3) were just getting warmed up.
“We do 20 for 20’s (at the end of practice) every day,” Archie said, “20 line drills in 20 minutes. Two extra (four-minute) quarters, that’s nothing.”
The Muhls dropped an overtime game to Wilson at West Lawn before Christmas; that not only prepared them for an intense league game like this but also gave them more motivation against the Red Knights (2-2, 6-5), who subsequently beat the Bulldogs and walked into the Muhls’ gym Tuesday as part of a three-way tie for first.
“We lost to a team (Wilson) that they beat,” said Muhlenberg senior Alex Collado, “so we had to prove ourselves. We just needed this dub.”
They were a determined lot in overtime, especially junior Shermar Killen, who had the game of his life with 29 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 10 points over the two overtime periods – one more than the Red Knights.
“It’s personal for him,” Flowers said of the rivalry against Reading. “He’s played with (their) guys in AAU; he sees them on a daily basis. He’s in City Park, plays Blacktop (against them).”
Killen aggressively attacked the basket, hit the boards and even knocked down a 3-pointer in the first overtime.
“That was the same old Shermar that we always see,” Archie said. “We know he’s capable of that.”
“When he plays like that, he’s best player in the county,” Flowers said after watching Killen hit 9-of-15 shots, including his final five, in the fourth quarter and overtime. “His body is unmatched. When you’re that size (6-2 and strong) and can handle the ball, it’s pretty good to see.”
The Muhls got big performances all around.
Collado, their leading scorer for the season, had 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with six rebounds and three assists.
Archie had 13 points and was 10-for-10 from the foul line – remarkable for a guy who was shooting 52 percent for the season.
Junior Jayden Kantner, in his first season with the Muhls after transferring from Brandywine Heights, put his new team over the top at the end, scoring 10 of his season-high 19 points in overtime. He hit six straight free throws in the final 1:15 to help the Muhls pull safety ahead.
Overall, the Muhls – who have struggled at times from the line this season – made 32-of-39 free throws (82 percent).
“We grew up tonight,” Flowers said. “I’m really proud of our kids. We stepped to the free throw line and knocked them down. I thought our guys persevered and played very well.”
The key for the Muhls was a switch to a zone late in the third quarter. They were having trouble containing Yadiel Cruz, the league’s leading scorer, who was getting inside position and putting back misses. He had 20 points through three quarters.
He finished with a team-high 27 points but didn’t have it as easy over the final 16 minutes when he often found three defenders draped over him when he touched the ball in the paint.
Freshman Jeremiah Camara had a big second half for Reading, scoring 13 of his season-high 15 points over the third and fourth quarters, mostly on twisting, high degree-of-difficulty drives through traffic.
The Red Knights didn’t get much else on offense: They were just 4-of-22 from 3-point range and got to the foul line only 13 times.
“We stopped them from scoring (in the second overtime), and we rebounded well,” Collado said. “We made sure to box out and get the ball and start our transition.”
Muhlenberg doesn’t play much zone but Tuesday it proved to be the difference.
“Tonight we had to use it, and it worked for us,” Flower said. “We didn’t want them shooting (a lot of) free throws, and we closed out on their shooters.”
Archie was a sophomore when Muhlenberg knocked off Reading in the final regular season game of the 2021-22 season in Laureldale, preventing a perfect run through the league.
He wasn’t surprised to see a packed house Tuesday, with the some of the fans going at each other as hard as the players were. With the tension bubbling over in the final minutes of regulation0 the game was stopped briefly and several fans were escorted out of the gym by security.
“It was crazy, but we knew it was gonna be like that,” Archie said of the fierce, non-stop action on the court. “We battle every day at practice. We knew this game was gonna be a battle, so we had to come in with the right mindset, and we did that.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Final | |
| Reading High | 15 | 22 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 74 |
| Muhlenberg | 20 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 87 |
| Red Knights (6-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burgess | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Cruz | 12-20 | 1-2 | 2-5 | 2 | 11 | 27 |
| Camara | 6-14 | 3-4 | 0-4 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| Rosario | 4-8 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| Osumanu | 2-8 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Sosa | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Beatty | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Mercedes | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sherriff | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 30-63 | 10-13 | 4-22 | 13 | 31/33 | 74 |
| Muhls (8-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Miller | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Killen | 9-15 | 10-13 | 1-2 | 1 | 11 | 29 |
| A. Collado | 9-14 | 4-6 | 2-3 | 3 | 6 | 24 |
| Archie | 1-3 | 10-10 | 1-2 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| J. Collado | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kantner | 5-10 | 8-10 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| LeClair | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Armstrong | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-54 | 32-39 | 5-12 | 10 | 30/34 | 87 |
Turnovers: Reading 20, Muhlenberg 21. Team rebounds: Reading 2, Muhlenberg 4.
