Berks Catholic tops Octorara, moves on to Hershey and 4A title defense
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Josiah Jordan scored nine of his team-high 20 points and Berks Catholic buckled down on the defensive end in the third quarter as it outlasted fourth-seeded Octorara 53-47 Monday night in a District 3 Class 4A semifinal at Wolf Gymnasium.
The top-seeded Saints (22-4) advance to face second-seeded Fleetwood in the district championship Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center.
The Saints and Braves matched up in mid-December, with Berks Catholic winning 71-59. The priority this time was defense.
“Coach (Rick) Keeley, my football coach, always said it’s hard to beat a good team twice,” Jordan said. “I feel like we kind of broke that today.”
Octorara’s Zach Kirk scored 23 points and Elijah Hamilton 21 in that first matchup against the Saints. They picked up where they left off, combining for 19 of the Braves’ 25 first-half points.
The fourth-seeded Braves (17-8) weren’t going to let Ryan Koch, who scored a career-high 31 points in the first matchup, hurt them again. He was held scoreless after four first-quarter points.
Freshman Kingston McKoy scored nine first-half points to pick up the slack offensively; he finished with 15.
Berks Catholic took its largest lead of the first quarter on Jordan’s free throw to go up 14-6; the Braves finished the quarter on a 9-3 run, seven from Hamilton.
Lucas Thaler’s 3-pointer with 3:03 left in the second gave Octorara a 23-21 lead before McKoy answered with a ‘3’ with 1:16 left. Kirk’s bucket gave the lead back to Octorara going into the half.
The Saints made adjustments in the third quarter, holding Hamilton to four points and Kirk, who was guarded by McKoy and Jordan, scoreless. Kirk eventually got into foul trouble by covering Jordan, who made 5-of-7 free throws in the quarter and was forced to the bench.
“Defense, defense, defense,” Jordan said of the halftime adjustments. “That was the main point of attack. We just really nailed that down.”
Jordan went 10-for-15 from the foul line, had four rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
“Jay Jay was fantastic today,” Berks Catholic head coach Snip Esterly said. “He did all the right things.”
The Saints finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run, capped by Joshua McKoy’s thunderous one-hand slam as the clock hit zero.
Berks Catholic pushed its lead to double digits in the fourth before Hamilton got rolling again and scored six straight points. Kirk’s leaner cut the lead to 50-47 before Kingston McKoy and Jordan combined for three foul shots to close out the victory.
Jordan, Koch and the Saints’ other seniors will have one more game in Wolf Gymnasium when the PIAA Tournament opens March 10.
Now the Saints head back to Hershey looking to win back-to-back district titles for the first time since 2012 and 2013.
“It’s going to be a great game,” Jordan said. “You don’t normally get two Berks County teams in Hershey (playing each other) in the finals. We’re going to give it all we have and hopefully come out victorious.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 17 | 7 | 17 | 12 | 53 |
| Octorara | 15 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 47 |
| Braves (17-8) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Hamilton | 8-17 | 4-5 | 2-4 | 0 | 15 | 22 |
| Kirk | 6-16 | 2-5 | 0-4 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| Bare | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Thaler | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Roberts | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Lambert | 1-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Leaman | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 18-49 | 9-14 | 2-13 | 2 | 32-36 | 47 |
| Saints (22-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Jordan | 5-13 | 10-15 | 0-0 | 3 | 4 | 20 |
| Koch | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| J. McKoy | 4-8 | 1-1 | 1-4 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| Miller | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. McKoy | 5-8 | 3-3 | 1-3 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| Geddio | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Nein | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lawlor | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 18-47 | 13-19 | 4-20 | 8 | 27-29 | 53 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 7, Octorara 6.
