Unbeaten Berks Catholic beats Twin Valley, clinches tie for Berks II title
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
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Berks Catholic won division titles in each of its first nine seasons.
Now, after three straight seasons without a first-place finish, the Saints find themselves one game away claiming the Berks Conference Division II title.
The Saints remained unbeaten Friday with a 64-48 win at Twin Valley and clinched at least a tie for first place when Berks II rival Exeter lost to Wilson.
The Saints (9-0, 16-0) lead the Eagles (5-3, 10-7) by three games in the loss column with three league games remaining. Even if they don’t win another game, and Exeter wins out, Berks Catholic would tie for the division lead and likely would win the tiebreaker, which is based on power ratings.
BC’s power rating (.836) is the highest in District 3 and more than 150 points higher than Exeter’s. The Saints are also the only unbeaten team in District 3.
Parker Nein scored a game-high 23 points Friday and Josh McKoy had 16 to lead the Saints.
Nein scored nine first-quarter points as the Saints raced to a 19-8 lead. McKoy had nine second-quarter points and 14 by halftime, helping Berks Catholic to a 36-24 lead.
Brady Altimar and Zach Suski each scored seven points for the Saints, who were playing their second straight game since losing lead guard Kingston McKoy for the season with a broken leg.
Matt Knight led Twin Valley with 16 points; Riley Green had 11.
Berks Catholic is bidding to become the first Berks Conference team to finish the regular season without a loss since Central Catholic went 22-0 in 2009-10.
Berks Catholic has five games remaining. It’s toughest challenges will come Tuesday at home against unbeaten Abington Heights and Thursday at Exeter.
The Saints can clinch the Berks II title outright with a home win over Conrad Weiser Monday, or with Exeter’s next league loss. The Eagles play at Weiser Saturday, at Daniel Boone Monday and wrap up league play Feb. 6 at Twin Valley.
Berks Catholic established the longest league winning streak in Berks Conference history when it won 60 in a row from 2014-20. It went unbeaten in league play five straight seasons and eight times in its first nine seasons.
The Saints had their only losing record in 2020-21, when they finished 6-11 overall and in fourth place in Berks I. They rebounded to finish second in Berks I behind Reading High in 2021-22.
They returned to Berks II last season and finished second to Exeter, splitting a pair of regular season games.
The 16-0 start is the best in program history. The Saints set the record Thursday with a 52-40 win at Wyomissing. The previous record had been 14 straight, in 2011-12.