Big second half lifts Berks Catholic to impressive win over Trinity

There’s a good chance Berks Catholic and Trinity will run into each other in the District 3 Class 4A Tournament late next month or in early March. If they do the Saints can look back at Saturday’s win over the Shamrocks for a confidence boost.

Aidan Sands hit a couple of key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help Berks Catholic complete a big comeback for a 61-54 win over the Shamrocks at Camp Hill.

The Saints (11-2) trailed by 11 points late in the first half and were without one of their top scorers, Ryan Koch, for a long stretch. He picked up his third and fourth fouls in the second quarter and didn’t play again until the fourth quarter.

Josiah Jordan scored a game-high 21 points for Berks Catholic and Sands had 19.

“It’s a nice win for us up there,” said Saints coach Snip Esterly. “They’re a good, solid, fundamentally coached team, and they do a lot of things well.

“It was just a good high school basketball game. We did some good things, they did some good things. The kids played hard, both teams. It was a good, clean game.”

The Saints entered the game ranked No. 1 in the District 3 Class 4A power ratings; the Shamrocks (8-3) were fourth. Should they meet in the tournament prior to the championship game the higher-seeded team will have home court advantage.

The Saints were in big trouble in the second quarter, trailing 31-20 after a 12-point Trinity run. Berks Catholic scored the final five points of the first half and the first seven of the second half, Jordan’s drive capping the run and giving them a 32-31 lead.

Jack Miller hit a 3-pointer and Sands hit a runner at the buzzer to cut Trinity’s lead to 31-25 at the half.

“The key was we went into the locker room on a 5-0 (run), and then we came out and took the lead (right away),” Esterly said.

The Saints trailed by a basket in the opening minute of the final quarter before Sands’ 3-pointer from the corner gave them the lead for good at 43-42. That started a 10-2 run.

Sands gave the Saints a seven-point lead when he scored on a baseline drive off an inbounds play with 1:08 remaining. The lead reached 10 when Miller hit both ends of a one-and-one with 18.5 seconds left.

Berks Catholic was much better on the defensive boards in the second half, limiting Trinity to one shot per possession. The Shamrocks scored just 23 points in the second half.

“We stressed (at halftime) that we’ve gotta value each possession,” Esterly said, “on offense and on defense. At times we don’t do that. In the third quarter I thought we played really, really well and we did that.”

The 11-point deficit is the largest the Saints have overcome this season.

Bryan Skurcenski had three 3’s and 11 points in the first half and finished with 14 for Trinity. Julian Gabbidon led Trinity with 20 points.

With Koch on the bench Sands picked up the scoring slack, scoring 15 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.

“It was nice to see him (hit those shots),” Esterly said. “I think the game against Nativity (on Wednesday) really loosened him up. After the Wilson game (a 51-48 loss on Tuesday) he was really down on himself. He’s picked it up the last three games.”

Koch picked up his third foul on a reach with about three minutes left in the first half, then was immediately hit with a technical for his fourth foul.

The Saints have won three straight since losing at Wilson.

The game matched two of the winningest coaches in Pennsylvania history, Larry Kostelac Jr. of Trinity and Esterly. Kostelac Jr. ranks sixth all-time among boys basketball coaches with 766 victories; that’s a record for District 3 coaches. Esterly tied Julius Prezelski of Forest City for seventh place all-time with 757 victories.