Everything’s new as Reading High and Cumberland Valley clash again
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Almost a year ago to the day Reading High and Cumberland Valley played at Giant Center for the District 3 Class 6A championship.
Other than the names on the front of the uniforms not much will be the same when they meet again tonight.
The prize and venue are different – they’re playing a semifinal on the Eagles’ home court – as are the lineups for each side. The Red Knights even have a different coach.
“It’s two different teams from last year,” said Francis Camara, looking to get to his first championship game after his predecessor, Rick Perez, led the Red Knights to five district championships, including the last three.
Indeed the Red Knights (19-8) are different. They’re the No. 6 seed, not the top dog as they’ve been accustomed to. And their cast is vastly different, too. Gone are All-State picks Ruben Rodriguez, Myles Grey and Aris Rodriguez.
Taking the lead now are the role players from a season ago: Yadiel Cruz, Nick Chapman, and Malik Osumanu. Those guys got a big helping of postseason experience a year ago; they were each instrumental in Reading’s PIAA championship run.
Still, they don’t possess the firepower that Ruben Rodriguez, a two-time Berks Player of the Year, or the other graduated seniors could produce.
“Offensively, we’re not as skilled, losing those three guys,” Camara said, “but we do a good job spreading it out. Yes, we know most of our focus goes around Yadiel but we have a bunch of different guys who are very versatile and play a lot of different roles for our team and they help us offensively: Nico (Sosa), ‘Dae-Dae’ (Daquan Burgess), Jeremiah (Camara), Nick and Weshly (Rosario), they provide a lot of versatility for us offensively.”
The new faces have come through, especially late in the season. After an up-and-down first half the Red Knights came into the postseason on a roll, with nine wins in 10 games. Their only loss in the last month came to Wilson 54-53 in the Berks championship game.
Reading opened districts with a home win over No. 11 Penn Manor, then went on the road to take out No. 3 Carlisle 68-62.
Cumberland Valley, too, came into the postseason on a roll. It lost back-to-back games, to Central Dauphin and Central York – the No. 5 and 1 seeds, respectively – but hasn’t lost since, with seven straight wins.
The Eagles beat Trinity and Hershey – the No. 1 seeds in Class 3A and 5A, respectively – for the Mid-Penn Conference championship. They went 13-1 to win the Commonwealth regular season title. Along the way they beat Carlisle twice; they needed to go to OT to beat the Herd in Carlisle, 83-77.
Cruz has emerged as the top scorer in the league at 22.2 points per game and succeeded Ruben Rodriguez as Player of the Year. He was joined on the All-Berks team by Chapman, a dogged defender. Osumanu, a rim protector; Rosario, a flashy sophomore point guard; and Jeremiah Camara, a freshman with big upside, were each all-division picks.
Cumberland Valley (22-3), the No. 2 seed, has a much different lineup, too. It will put just one returning starter, Nolan Buzalka, on the floor tonight. It’s other return starter, 6-3 senior Tzuriel Ogunnaike, had knee surgery Feb. 15.
That means Eagles coach David Vespignani has needed to rely on a pair of freshman, 6-4 forward Aiden Diehl and 6-1 Jared Dolimpio, as part of his starting lineup and rotation. Diehl leads the team with 41 3-pointers and shoots 88 percent from the foul line.
“They look composed,” Camara said of the freshmen. “They’re playing their roles and doing a good job for their team. They stepped right in this year and haven’t backed down at all.”
He could say the same of his son Jeremiah, a guard who moved into the starting lineup early in the season and has a unique scoring knack that should help him emerge into one of the Berks Conference’s top players in the coming seasons.
Buzalka is the Eagles’ top player. He leads the team in scoring (14.0), rebounding (9.3) and assists (4.5). He has 22 3’s and will be the primary ballhandler when the Red Knights attack with their press – which they’ll have to.
That’ll be their best way to generate points. They have had trouble at times scoring in the halfcourt and figure to against a Cumberland Valley team that is long – all five starters are 6-2 or better — and stingy.
Even with all their firepower a year ago the Red Knights scored just 49 points in regulation against CV. They needed an extra period to beat the Eagles. Cruz hit a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left to secure the win.
“They use their length, they use their position, they communicate well (on defense),” Francis Camara said. “You really have to execute and be patient against them.
“They’re a tough, disciplined team that you have to work really, really hard against to earn anything. They’re going to bring a lot of challenges for us.”
