Another balanced effort keeps Saints unbeaten in Berks I as they close in on title
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Berks Catholic senior Caraline Herb needed 17 points to eclipse the 1,000-point threshold Tuesday against Reading High.
Herb scored 14 — moving her total to 997 for her career — but was held to just two points after the first quarter when the Red Knights decided to face-guard her.
It didn’t matter as the Saints’ other offensive weapons stepped up. Madison Langdon scored a team-high 15 points and Sydney Corado had 12 as the Saints defeated the Red Knights 56-36 at the Geigle to continue their dominance in Division I of the Berks Girls League.
“It’s nice that all of us can score,” said Langdon, the composed and steady sophomore point guard. “When one person’s not making shots or being face-guarded, other people know to step up. I think we did a good job doing that tonight.”
The offense starts with Herb’s 14.6 points per game but Langdon (10.9), Molly McFadden (8.7), and Corado (8.2) have no trouble scoring, and in a variety of ways. That balance helped Tuesday and will be crucial once the playoffs arrive.
“Our team is looking very strong,” Herb said after the Saints won for the ninth time in 10 games. “I definitely think it’s because of our tough schedule. We hope to keep it up.”
The Saints (10-0, 15-5) have played a loaded non-league schedule that includes Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Delone Catholic, Methacton, Lancaster Catholic, and York Catholic.
Although some of those ended in losses, the nightly challenges help when they play Berks I rivals such as the Red Knights (6-4, 11-8) and prepares them for matchups against tougher opponents in late February.
Berks Catholic’s goals are always to win a county title and compete in districts.
This win moves the Saints one step closer to the top seed in the Berks playoffs and solidifies their No. 2 ranking in the District 3 Class 4A field, which would guarantee a district quarterfinal game in Wolf Gymnasium.
“That’s what we want,” Berks Catholic head coach Bob Birmingham said. “Those are some of our goals at the start of the year. We talked about them early on. Then after that we take them one game at a time.”
Herb scored 12 points in the first quarter. Although she’ll have to wait to reach 1,000, she reached another milestone when she hit her 200th career 3-pointer, helping the Saints lead 19-8 after one.
Reading deployed its typical aggressive press defense; it didn’t faze the battle-tested Saints. Berks Catholic’s starters committed only five turnovers. The Saints were the aggressors and shot 22 free throws to six for the Red Knights.
“Being really aggressive was one of our big focuses for this game,” Langdon said. “We just wanted to play our game, which I thought we did.”
Langdon and Herb continuously broke the press and the Red Knights struggled to score offensively. Reading shot 31% from the field and 1-for-12 from 3-point range. The Saints led 31-13 at halftime.
Langdon hit all six of her free throws in the third quarter as the Saints and Red Knights each scored 10 points.
Birmingham pulled his starters in the fourth as the Saints set their sights on finishing the season strong against Gov. Mifflin Friday and Conrad Weiser Monday. They can clinch their second straight division title with a win over the Mustangs.
Heaven’Li Franklin scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to continue her hot streak for the Red Knights; she had 13 points in a loss to Harrisburg Saturday and a season-high 21 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to Gov. Mifflin last Thursday.
Despite the loss, Reading High moved up one spot to No. 12 in the District 3 Class 6A power rankings; the Red Knights are clinging to the final berth with games against Wilson, Lebanon and Muhlenberg to close the regular season.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Reading High | 8 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 36 |
| Berks Catholic | 19 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 56 |
| Saints (15-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Herb | 5-10 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| Mad. Langdon | 3-10 | 8-8 | 1-5 | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| McFadden | 2-12 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
| Corado | 3-8 | 4-4 | 2-7 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Roberts | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Evans | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brown | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Mirenda | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mac. Langdon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wolf | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Unger | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Linderman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-46 | 17-22 | 5-19 | 11 | 29-34 | 56 |
| Red Knights (11-8) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Franklin | 5-13 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 15 | 12 |
| Rodriguez | 3-10 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Chapman | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Collier | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Hernandez-Albino | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Hopkins | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Pimental | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Seabury | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Spring | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Matias | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bradley | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 16-51 | 3-6 | 1-12 | 5 | 30-35 | 36 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 11, Reading High 16.