Berks Catholic shoots down Middletown to claim fourth District 3 title (updated with boxscore)
HERSHEY — Berks Catholic’s perimeter shooting had trouble finding the range during two Berks Conference playoff games at Santander Arena last month. Saints coach Snip Esterly said the large arena caused depth perception issues that can affect shooters.
The Saints had no such problems on the biggest stage in District 3 Thursday afternoon as they knocked down five first-half 3-pointers and rolled up a big lead in beating Middletown 60-37 for the Class 4A championship.
The top-seeded Saints (23-4) got early 3-pointers from Aidan Sands and Ryan Koch to fuel a 17-0 first-quarter run and they were never challenged the rest of th way. They were good on seven of their first 12 shots from beyond the arc and 8-of-17 overall, outstanding at this level.
“Having two games there (at Santander), we just got used to it,” said junior guard Jack Miller, who was good on 3-of-5 3-point shots. “We’re shooters. We can get used to anything.”
The Saints coupled their hot shooting with stellar defense. They held the third-seeded Blue Raiders (20-4) scoreless for more than seven minutes of the first and second quarters and put together a 17-0 scoring run that left them on top 19-4 after one period.
“They were focused,” said Berks Catholic coach Snip Esterly. “We told them what we thought was the best plan (defensively), and they perfected it. They did a great job.”
The district title was the fourth for the Saints in their 11-year history, and their first since 2018. It was the 13th district championship for coach Snip Esterly, who also won nine with Central Catholic.
The Saints open the PIAA Tournament Tuesday at home against the still-to-be determined fifth place finisher out of District 12.
The Blue Raiders open state play Tuesday against the third-place finisher from District 2.
Ryan Koch scored in the final second of the first quarter off inbounds pass from Josiah Jordan and scored with no time left on the clock to end the first half when he was fouled on a long 3-pointer. Koch made all three free throws for a 32-12 lead.
The Saints extended their lead to 28 points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Jordan led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points. Koch had 15, Miller nine and Sands eight.
Tajae Brodie led Middletown with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but had just six points at the half.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Middletown | 4 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 37 |
| Berks Catholic | 19 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 60 |
| Blue Raiders (20-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Batts | 0-6 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ta. Leach | 1-8 | 5-6 | 0-2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Ty. Leach | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Appleby | 3-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | – | 2 | 6 |
| Broadie | 5-16 | 4-4 | 1-6 | 0 | 13 | 15 |
| Huber | 1-2 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Souders | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Stains | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dupes | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Smith | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 11-43 | 13-15 | 2-14 | 3 | 21/23 | 37 |
| Saints (23-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Sands | 2-8 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 1 | 9 | 8 |
| Jordan | 7-12 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| Koch | 6-12 | 3-3 | 1-5 | 0 | 5 | 16 |
| Miller | 3-5 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Givens | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reinhart | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Cacchione | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Nein | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Geddio | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gaffney | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diaz | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lawlor | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-42 | 8-9 | 8-17 | 8 | 26/29 | 60 |
Turnovers: Middletown 12, Berks Catholic 13.