Career night by Madyx Gruber lifts Wilson into Berks championship game
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Madyx Gruber and the Wilson Bulldogs are playing their best basketball of the season and the result equals a trip to the Berks Conference championship game.
Gruber scored a career-high 31 points and made all five of his 3-pointers as the fourth-seeded Bulldogs outlasted top-seeded Berks Catholic 59-46 Wednesday night at Santander Arena to advance to the Berks title game for the first time since it defeated Reading High in 2021.
“When he believes in himself, he’s one of the best players in the league,” Wilson head coach Matt Coldren said of Gruber. “We had a conversation Monday and I told him: ‘We need you and you’re a premier player in this league. You’re going to miss a shot, but it’s not a big deal. I’m not going to tell you to stop shooting.’”
Gruber didn’t miss many Wednesday scoring 16 in the first half, the last of which came on a deep 3 to put Wilson up 23-16 with 3:03 left before halftime that prompted the junior guard to glance over at press row in disbelief.
“If I’m being honest with you, I felt it as soon as I woke up today,” Gruber said. “I knew it was going to be a good game and that’s what it was. I was just trying to bring that energy into the game.”
The Berks I runner-up Bulldogs (16-8) went into the break with a 28-19 lead before Berks II champ Berks Catholic stole momentum to begin the third quarter.
After the teams exchanged buckets to start the third quarter, Josh McKoy converted an and-one, Brady Altimar nailed a 3, Javen Diaz scored off an assist from Armanni Dominguez, and Parker Nein hit a 3 off Dominguez’s assist to give the Saints (20-3) their first lead 32-30 with 3:57 left in third.
Coldren took a timeout and the Bulldogs switched to a 2-3 zone, a tactic that paid dividends.
“We changed defenses to give them a little bit more energy,” said Coldren, who rarely employs zone defenses. “And we trapped out of it. We forced them to take quick shots and we got boards and quick buckets. I think we wore them out.”
McKoy hit two free throws to give the Saints a four-point lead with 2:36 left before the Bulldogs finished the third quarter on a 10-0 run.
Berks Catholic just ran out of firepower without top player Kingston McKoy, who suffered a season-ending broken leg and was relegated to a seat behind Snip Esterly on the Saints’ bench.
Gruber closed it out in the fourth with 13 points to finish off the career night one game after teammate Luke Levan scored a career-high 22 in a win over Exeter in the quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs had only four turnovers after only committing just six against the Eagles. They’re firing on all cylinders at the right time.
“I’m just happy to win it with my guys and have a chance to play for a championship,” Gruber said. “We want to cut down the nets.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Berks Catholic | 10 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 46 |
| Wilson | 15 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 59 |
| Saints (20-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| J. McKoy | 4-9 | 4-5 | 1-1 | 4 | 10 | 13 |
| Nein | 5-13 | 1-1 | 2-6 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Suski | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Dominguez | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Altimar | 2-5 | 2-3 | 1-3 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Komoro | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Diaz | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Kozik | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-40 | 7-9 | 5-13 | 8 | 20/23 | 46 |
| Bulldogs (16-8) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Levan | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Gruber | 11-19 | 4-4 | 5-5 | 1 | 3 | 31 |
| Akings | 5-10 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| Etim | 2-3 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Zullinger | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| C. Hunsicker | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| T. Hunsicker | 1-5 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| McFadden | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Totals | 20-46 | 10-14 | 9-13 | 8 | 24/27 | 59 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 9, Wilson 4. Team rebounds: Berks Catholic 3, Wilson 3.
