Berks Catholic gains redemption with first-round win over Muhlenberg
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Berks Catholic opened its “Redemption Tour” with a 65-48 victory over Muhlenberg in a Berks Conference quarterfinal Monday at Wolf Gymnasium.
The way the third-seeded Saints see it, the Berks Conference playoffs set up for them to avenge their three league losses: Muhlenberg, Exeter and Reading High.
The first stop on the tour against the sixth-seeded Muhls (14-9) was not an encore of the first matchup, when Muhlenberg’s 2-3 and 3-2 zones stymied the Saints (20-3). Berks Catholic was ready to go from the jump against the zone, which was a little redemption for veteran coach Snip Esterly.
“We worked on (beating the zone) really hard in practice after that (first) game,” Esterly said. “I told the guys we were not prepared and that was my fault. I said we will be ready if we ever play them again and we were.”
The Saints deftly moved the ball against the zone and beat the Muhls’ zone rotations, creating easy buckets as they jumped out to a 13-4 first quarter lead.
Senior point guard Josiah Jordan repeatedly penetrated and kicked to sharpshooter Ryan Koch, who drained four 3-pointers. Koch tied his teammate Kingston McCoy with a game-high 18 points. Koch also had 11 rebounds, helping the Saints to a 36-19 advantage on the glass.
“We just had fire in us (tonight),” Koch said. “You have to protect your home. We had energy, and it’s nice when you see shots fall early.”
McKoy, a freshman, was called into duty earlier than normal after starter Jack Miller picked up two fouls just over three minutes into the game.
He showed no indication he was playing in his first playoff game as he seamlessly fit into the Berks Catholic floor game.
Big brother Josh, a junior center, had 11 points and five rebounds and was part of a defensive effort that challenged the Muhls at the rim.
Berks Catholic expanded its lead to 17 at one point in the second quarter before the Muhls used a 7-0 run to cut it 10. The Saints closed the half with the last five points to lead 29-14.
Xzavion Robertson, who had a game-high 24 points for the Muhls in the first matchup, had only two points in the first half and finished with 11.
“I can’t say enough about how we played defensively and how we rebounded,” Esterly said.
Jordan, who leads the team in scoring, had only four points but had five assists and was able to poke holes and stress the zone with his penetration, which was vital to the offense. Jordan had foul trouble throughout the game and fouled out with 3:59 left and the Saints leading 51-38.
“Down the road it (Jordan fouling out) might hurt us,” Esterly said. “I tried to explain that to JayJay. When you pick up fouls like that, just give up a bucket. Don’t swipe, don’t do anything. You are more valuable on the court than you are sitting on the bench.”
The Saints struggled a bit handling the Muhlenberg ball pressure after Jordan was finished but they had a big safety valve in Kingston McKoy. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including eight straight free throws.
“He’s playing high-level basketball at a very young age,” Jordan said. “He’s better than I was my freshman year which is truly something. He’s poised and that’s a gift you can’t teach.”
The Saints will get Exeter in the second act of their playoff tour Wednesday at the Santander Arena at 6. Second-seeded Exeter defeated Oley Valley 68-35.
The Saints hope to finish a three-night tour with a win over defending champion Reading on Friday night. Reading faces Wilson in the other semifinal on Wednesday. But first they will need to top Exeter.
“All I am going to say is Redemption Tour,” Jordan said. “We are coming for everyone that we didn’t get. That’s all it is.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 4 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 48 |
| Berks Catholic | 13 | 16 | 14 | 22 | 65 |
| Muhls (14-9) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Alcantara | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Mosquera | 0-5 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Valentin | 2-7 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Adonis | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Robertson | 5-13 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Branch | 4-8 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| Killen | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Archie | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Miller | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Towles | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Collado | 3-7 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Totals | 18-54 | 8-13 | 4-15 | 4 | 16-19 | 48 |
| Saints (20-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| J. McKoy | 4-7 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Geddio | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Koch | 5-11 | 4-4 | 4-8 | 0 | 11 | 18 |
| Miller | 0-2 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Jordan | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| K. McKoy | 4-6 | 10-12 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
| Nein | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Lawler | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Totals | 21-40 | 18-21 | 5-16 | 10 | 29-36 | 65 |
Turnovers: Muhlenberg 10, Berks Catholic 19.
