Up next on Reading’s redemption tour: Central York and the Final Four
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Francis Camara was seething mad after his first game as Reading High’s head basketball coach.
His team had allowed 90 points – 52 in the second half. Those are numbers you just don’t see against a program with the pedigree of the Red Knights.
“We are a good defensive team,” Camara insisted. “What you saw out there is not the product we’ve been working on. I promise you we won’t give up 90 points again.”
He said that four months ago, outside the visitor’s locker room at Central York where his young team opened the season with a 90-73 loss.
True to his word the Red Knights haven’t given up anything near 90 points in their 31 games since.
They’ve experienced other rough moments: A 24-point home loss to Exeter; an 18-point loss at Coatesville; a one-point loss to Wilson in the Berks Conference title game; a 19-point loss at Cumberland Valley in districts; and finally a loss in their final home game, to Red Lion.
None of those setbacks damaged a resilient group of guys who believe they’re as good as the Reading team they’re following, the one that went 32-1 and won a state championship.
Those teams that beat them? Exeter . . . Wilson . . . Coatesville . . . Cumberland Valley . . . Red Lion . . . they’re all gone now. Those guys are off playing spring sports or prepping for their respective AAU seasons.
The Red Knights? They’re getting ready for one final rematch, against Central York (27-3) in a PIAA Tournament semifinal Tuesday at Warwick at 7.
Funny how things work in March, isn’t it? Eight district champs entered the Class 6A Tournament; only one (Parkland from District 11) is standing.
“Everybody has bad games,” Reading senior Malik Osumanu said when asked about the Red Knights’ last loss, to eighth-seeded Red Lion in a district third-place game. “After that game we talked. . . The next day we still believed that we had a chance.”
That was nearly three weeks ago. In the days since the Red Knights (22-10) went to Chester and won by a point, backup center Xavier Beatty blocking a shot in the final second; they went to Altoona and beat District 10 champ Erie McDowell; and they turned the tables on Coatesville with a remarkable 62-44 victory Saturday in a state quarterfinal.
Now they get another shot at a Central York team that was pegged as one of the best in the state in the preseason but has had some minor issues and setbacks of its own.
The Panthers’ state run nearly ended before it began when they were turned back by league rival Red Lion 66-65 in their district opener. That sent the No. 1 seed to the playback round where they had to win to keep their season alive.
Much as it hurts to lose to your biggest rival that loss proved to be a turning point for Central York.
“The difference in our team before that game, and then after that game – it’s like night and day,” said Panthers coach Jeff Hoke. “These kids have worked 10 times harder (since then); they’re playing like a championship team.”
Central certainly has the makings of a championship team, what with three 1,000-point scorers and three potential Division I recruits.
Greg Guidinger, a 6-6 forward, is the only senior in the starting lineup. He averages 18.5 points, has 45 3’s and has scored over 1,500 career points, most in program history. He has an offer to play at Columbia; Hoke thinks other Division I offers are soon to come.
He’s playing his best ball of the season right now.
“Greg’s doing what seniors do: Everything to win,” said Hoke. “He’s been awesome in the playoffs. Other than these other Final Four teams, I don’t think there’s anybody that can guard him. These last four games he’s been unreal.”
He’s joined on the front line by 6-8 junior Ben Rill, who dominated Reading with 15 points and 14 rebounds. He averages 14.7 points and went over 1,000 points last month.
The Panthers have good guards, too, in 6-2 junior Ben Natal, a 1,000-point scorer who averages 14.9 per game; sophomore Ryan Brown; and sophomore Brooklyn Nace, who scored a game-high 21 against Reading.
Rill and Natal, Hoke predicts, will each collect 20 or more Division I offers in the coming months.
They were good against Reading on Dec. 5: Natal scored 18 points as the Panthers became just the fourth team in history to reach 90 against Reading.
The season-opener was a wild one. The Red Knights came out on fire, led by 10 points after six minutes and were up five at halftime.
“They were killing us,” Hoke said.
It all came apart in the third quarter as the Panthers blitzed the Red Knights for 28 points, including four 3’s.
What any of that means 30-plus games later . . . is hard to say. Both sides have grown and changed so much. It’s like a different season.
They know each well, too. Hoke and Camara have each shared film throughout the playoffs. There will be no surprises.
“There’s nothing to hide,” Hoke said. “It’s coming down to who executes the best . . . who can make some buckets.”
The Red Knights came into the tournament as a No. 4 seed and with more losses than any other Class 6A team. None of that matters now.
“Our goal (from the beginning of the year) was to try to do better than last year’s team did,” said Osumanu, the lone return starter. “We knew it was going t take a lot, and it is taking a lot. We’re just trying to win the day every single day and so far we’re doing that.”