With Madyx Gruber on the ball, Bulldogs have a real shot
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(Corrected to show that Madyx Gruber is a junior.)
When Easton switched to a zone defense early in the second quarter Saturday afternoon Wilson’s Madyx Gruber, out on the left wing about 24 feet from basket, teased the Red Rovers.
He gave a pump fake, as if he was going to put the ball up. When the defender nearest him didn’t bite Gruber paused briefly, then swished a 3-pointer. A few minutes later he put one up from even deeper, out in Steph Curry territory.
“Once I shot it, I thought: ‘Oh, that looks good,’ ” said the junior guard, “but it wasn’t.”
Gruber could laugh about the shot, which barely glanced the rim. It was one minor ding in an otherwise shiny game, one that helped the Bulldogs crush the Red Rovers 75-34 in a non-league game at West Lawn.
Gruber didn’t miss much. He hit his first five shots and had 15 first-half points. He also had two assists and three steals, including a couple of open-court picks that led to easy buckets.
“It just feels good,” he said of knocking down some early shots. “You know that you’re on today.”
Gruber was certainly on, and he needs to be. He’s Wilson’s lone returning starter and only player with much game experience. Plus, the Bulldogs (2-1) are missing one of their other top players, Tommy McFadden, who’s out with a foot injury.
That heaps even more of a load on Gruber, who is expected to do a little bit of everything for his team this season. Last year he was a point guard whose No. 1 job was to distribute. Now he has a lot of No. 1 jobs.
“I think he wants more out of me (this season),” Gruber said of Wilson coach Matt Coldren. “He wants me to be the leader of the ship. I’m the most experienced guy on the team. I try to give the advice that I got from the seniors last year to these young guys. Just pick them up and be a leader.”
It’s a tricky role to both set up teammates and look for your own shot. Gruber’s comfortable in either role.
“My first thought is always to score,” he said, “but as soon as the defense pressures me, I like to dish it, give my guys the ball, let ’em do their thing. I enjoy everything (about the game but) I like to pass the ball the most.”
He has great hands and court vision and whips the ball around the court. He also has as much range as any shooter in the league. He’s good from halfcourt, too, as he showed last year when he nailed a buzzer-beater in a one-point playoff win at Fleetwood.
Coldren believes he has three players capable of running out of the lead guard spot: Sophomore Correll Akings, McFadden and Gruber. Whoever gets it first, he said, takes the lead. That will make the Bulldogs tougher to defend and allow Gruber more offensive freedom.
“I want all of them to look first for themselves,” Coldren said. “When all three of ’em are on, we are really, really good.”
The Bulldogs weren’t so good Tuesday night: They lost to Central Dauphin by 25 points. Coldren called the first half “the worst half of basketball I’ve been associated with in 20 years.”
He was anxious to see how they would bounce back from that and was more than pleased by the response.
The Bulldogs took the Red Rovers apart with their attacking fullcourt and halfcourt traps, forcing 13 first-half turnovers in building a 16-point lead. Gruber, Akings, Jon Etim and Kevin Twiford all had steals that led to baskets.
“We knew we had to bounce back from that loss,” said Gruber of the 61-36 defeat at Central Dauphin, “and we did.”
Gruber played very little in the second half Saturday as the Bulldogs quickly moved out to a 25-point lead and extended it, setting the mercy rule in effect late the game.
They showed off their depth as seven different players scored in the first half and 10 saw meaningful minutes. Akings finished with 12 points. Freshman Michael Glover had 10 points and five rebounds, all in the second half. Six different players hit 3-pointers.
That deep depth is what Coldren hopes will give the Bulldogs the edge in their Berks I battles against Reading High, Muhlenberg and Gov. Mifflin, and in crossovers against Berks II leaders Berks Catholic and Exeter.
Gruber, of course, will be a key part of all that. He’s coming off a strong football season that saw him lead the team in receptions and touchdown catches and earn all-league second-team honors at wide receiver. He was also a starting cornerback, leading the team with eight pass breakups and three interceptions; he was third on the team in tackles.
He came out of football season feeling good and that can only mean good things for the Bulldogs.
“Offensively, he’s stronger now (than a year ago),” Coldren said. “When he goes to the rim he’s not falling down. He’s in a good place with his body.
“The farther we get away from football season the more his shot’s gonna come around. He shot really well this summer. He’s shooting well now but I’ve seen him shoot better.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Easton | 6 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 34 |
| Wilson | 17 | 18 | 24 | 16 | 75 |
| Red Rovers (2-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Cornish | 4-11 | 3-4 | 3-8 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Pompilus | 2-7 | 0-1 | 0-3 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Grimmer | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Macon | 3-6 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Hoadley | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| L. Acree | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Shollenberger | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| M. Acree | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dunlap | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Henry | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Brown | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 13-41 | 3-7 | 5-19 | 3 | 20/24 | 34 |
Turnovers: 23. Team rebounds: 4.
| Bulldogs (2-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 5-8 | 3-4 | 2-4 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| T. Hunsicker | 2-3 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Etim | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Akings | 5-7 | 1-1 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Levan | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Twiford | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Zullinger | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Wright | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| C. Hunsicker | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Greene | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Glover | 5-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Wood | 2-2 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Aido | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Houck | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 29-47 | 10-14 | 7-15 | 10 | 27/27 | 75 |
Turnovers: 10. Team rebounds: 0.
