Practice makes perfect for 10-0 Saints
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Kingston McKoy was so displeased with the way he played Thursday in Berks Catholic’s resounding win over Exeter that he called for a team shoot-around Friday afternoon, hours before another big league test against Muhlenberg.
The Saints nearly blew the Eagles off the court, building a 22-point cushion at one juncture, but McKoy missed a bunch of free throws and was unhappy with the way he and the Saints let their Berks II rivals back into the game.
And so the Berks Catholic players, taking advantage of an early dismissal because of midterms, gathered to put up some shots.
How much that helped them a few hours later when they dismantled Muhlenberg 64-39 in a Berks Conference crossover game between playoff-bound teams is open to debate.
The message that impromptu practice session sent isn’t vague: This team is focused and willing to do whatever it takes to win a Berks championship for the first time in six years.
“They’re following Kingston’s lead,” Saints coach Snip Esterly said Friday after an even sharper performance than the night before. “(He) has them on the right road.”
McKoy is a sophomore with rare talent and even rarer leadership abilities. Esterly, who’s been coaching since players wore short shorts, says he’s never had anyone like this before.
“I’ve had some great players,” Esterly said, “(but) as a leader . . . as a sophomore? I don’t know if I’ve ever had a sophomore like him.”
McKoy set the tone quickly against the Muhls (3-2 Berks I, 8-5). Two minutes into the game he snared a rebound, then took it the length of the floor for a transition basket. Next time down he squared up and popped a 3-pointer.
The Saints (5-0, 10-0) led 7-2 and were just getting warmed up. They continued to pour it on, dominating on both ends of the court.
Parker Nein followed up a big game with an even better one: He scored a game-high 20 points, all in the first three quarters. He went down in the final minute of the first half with an ankle injury and left the game.
No worries: He opened the second half with a 3-pointer, the first of his 10 third-quarter points that pushed BC’s lead to 38-20.
Josh McKoy, a 6-4 senior and Kingston’s brother, said he had some things to get off his chest after Thursday’s game and went about it right away, scoring eight first-quarter points on the way to a 15-point, 11-rebound game.
Kingston? Well, he was just out of sight. The 6-2 guard is a match-up nightmare. When his shot is dropping, as it was Friday, no one in the league is going to stop him. He scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, knocked down three 3-pointers, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked several shots.
He was just as good on the defensive end, which is the strongest part of his game right now. He took turns on Shermar Killen, one of the Muhls’ top scorers, and played a big part in Killen’s 4-of-15 shooting night.
Muhlenberg had 20 points on 7-of-27 shooting in the first half. One night earlier Exeter scored 18 first-half points on 6-of-20 shooting.
“We were all over the court tonight,” Josh McKoy said of his team’s defense, which held Muhlenberg to a season-low point total.
“Our defense is crazy,” Kingston McKoy said. “That’s the best part of our game. I say it time after time: Defense is what’s gonna win games. We can score at will, but if we play defense, too, it’s a deadly combo.”
The big question for the Saints was how they would manage tough league games on back-to-back nights. Even the pros wrestle with such situations.
Not the Saints: They put that question to bed pretty early, with an 18-point first quarter. They extended their 15-point halftime lead to 55-27 with 2 ½ minutes to go in the third quarter, Nein capping a 15-2, three-minute run with a 3-pointer.
The lead was 30 when Josh McKoy put back a miss in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
“We came into this game with a lot of energy,” Kingston McKoy said. “We just knew we had to play with a lot of energy and finish it out strong.
“That’s how we’ve gotta come at the whole county, every game (one) at a time. We’ve gotta come out with that killer mentality. We can’t play down to any team. We did it two times in a row (in wins last week at Pottsville and Daniel Boone) and we’re not gonna do it again.”
The Saints trailed by six at halftime against Pottsville (9-5) before coming back to win 57-43. They led Boone by just seven at intermission before picking it up and finishing with a 20-point cushion.
Berks Catholic was considered one of five top contenders for the league title when the season began, along with Wilson, Reading High, Exeter and Muhlenberg.
While each of the other four has struggled at times the Saints have consistently executed at a high level. They’re the only unbeaten team in District 3. They won at Trinity (9-2), the top-rated team in District 3 Class 3A. They handed 13-1 Octorara its only loss. They’ve won on the road at Cedar Crest (9-2) and Allentown Central Catholic (12-3).
And now, on back-to-back nights, they’ve scored big wins over two of their top competitors. They’ll see another Thursday when they head to Wilson (10-3). The following week they get Reading High (7-6) at home.
They’re clearly now the No. 1 team in the league.
“We’re trying to run (through) the county,” Kingston McKoy said. “That’s what we’re trying to get at. It’s not for certain yet; we’ve gotta keep beating these teams. When we play these good teams we’ll see what happens. We’re confident that the county’s gotta come through us.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 14 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 39 |
| Berks Catholic | 18 | 17 | 22 | 7 | 64 |
| Muhls (8-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Kantner | 2-7 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Archie | 3-9 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Killen | 4-15 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 8 | 10 |
| A Collado | 0-5 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| J Collado | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Leclair | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Armstrong | 4-7 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Marte | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hemmings | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Martinez | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 16-57 | 7-9 | 0-10 | 2 | 27/28 | 39 |
| Saints (10-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Dominguez | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Nein | 8-13 | 2-3 | 2-5 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| K McKoy | 6-11 | 2-2 | 3-5 | 2 | 11 | 17 |
| J McKoy | 5-9 | 5-6 | 0-1 | 1 | 11 | 15 |
| Komoro | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Altimar | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Suski | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Diaz | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Garcia | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kozik | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fidler | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-47 | 9-11 | 5-15 | 5 | 35/38 | 64 |
Turnovers: Muhlenberg 9, Berks Catholic 13. Team rebounds: Muhlenberg 1, Berks Catholic 3.
