Defense rules as Red Knights shut down Muhls, complete unbeaten league run
Rule No. 1 around Reading High basketball is pretty clear.
“You want to play,” says senior guard Myles Grey, “you’ve got to play defense. It’s as simple as that. If you can’t stay in front of your man, if you can’t get the rotations down, if you can’t understand the game plan, the assignments, then you might not be seeing the court a lot.”
Grey broke into the Red Knights’ starting lineup midway through his sophomore season. The reason? He played defense. Played it well enough to remain in the lineup throughout Reading’s run to a state title.
| Berks I | League | Overall |
| Reading High | 11-0 | 21-1 |
| Wilson | 7-4 | 16-6 |
| Muhlenberg | 6-5 | 14-8 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 3-8 | 7-15 |
“If you want get on the court you’ve got to be a superb defender, that’s just how it is,” Grey said matter-of-factly. “When the freshmen come up, the JV players, they know. We instill in them that if they’re not playing defense then they’re not going to play on the varsity level. Defense comes first.”
Following Rule No. 1 was imperative Tuesday, when the Red Knights faced an explosive Muhlenberg squad.
When they met a month ago the Muhls’ standout backcourt of Xzayvion Robertson and Jay’Daniel Mosquera combined for 42 points.
Too many, said Reading coach Rick Perez.
He switched some assignments for the rematch and saw the Red Knights cruise to a 66-47 win before an SRO crowd at Laureldale, finishing unbeaten in Berks Conference play for the first time in five seasons.
Defense was the reason. Stopper Amier Burdine was assigned to Robertson, who can go off for 30 points at any time. Grey primarily guarded Mosquera. They held them to a combined 16 points, just seven in the first half.
It was a team effort, of course. The Berks I champion Red Knights (11-0, 21-1) switch a lot on defense but they’re balanced enough on that side of the ball that the Muhls (6-5, 14-8) couldn’t find any soft spots or mismatches. They were held to one of their lowest scoring totals of the season.
“At the end of the day, anybody can guard anybody,” Grey said proudly. “That’s how we play defense. That’s what we do.”
The Red Knights do more than just play ‘D,’ but that side of the game fuels their offense, and they used a number of steals to rev up their transition game. Aris Rodriguez was one of the primary beneficiaries and scored a game-high 18 points.
Josh Alcantara opened the game with a 3-pointer, giving the Muhls an early lead. The Red Knights responded by scoring the next 10, Rodriguez opening it by answering with a 3.
When Rodriguez scored off Grey’s steal a couple minutes into the game Reading had the lead for good and was never challenged. It led 28-20 at halftime after Ruben Rodriguez dropped in a 3-pointer in the final seconds; the Red Knights scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take command.
With their two top scorers handcuffed the Muhls were never able to make a run.
“They’re the two guys that kind of run their team, get them going,” Grey said of Robertson, who was averaging 14.8 points, and Mosquera, who was averaging 13.9. “We neutralize them, the game’s ours.”
And so it was.
Robertson shot 3-of-13 from the field and finished with nine points. Mosquera made 2-of-14 from the field. They combined to go 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
Mosquera scored 23 in Reading’s 77-60 at the Geigle; he had seven Tuesday.
“Amier . . .he’s a superior defender,” Grey said. “Whoever he’s guarding is going to have a tough night.”
The Muhls had only 28 points after three quarters. They finished with fewer than 50 points for just the fourth time this season. The others came in losses to Wilson, when they scored 41 and 36 points, and in a 48-46 win over Berks Catholic.
The Red Knights aren’t a big for a Class 6A team but they’ve gotten decent length and used that to their advantage against the Muhls’ much smaller guards, each of whom are well under 6 feet. Burdine and Ruben Rodriguez, who each go 6-2, Yadiel Cruz, who’s 6-3, and Aris Rodriguez, who’s 6-5, gave them fits.
“It felt like their length dictated the whole game,” said Muhls coach Matt Flowers.
| Reading’s best regular season records | Season | Coach |
| 24-0 | 1990-91 | Mike Miller |
| 23-0 | 2007-08 | Richard Reyes |
| 22-0 | 1965-66 | Pete Carill |
| 26-1 | 1980-81 | Jim Gano |
| 23-1 | 1982-83 | Rick Binder |
| 21-1 | 1965-66 | Pete Carill |
| 21-1 | 2022-23 | Rick Perez |
| 20-1 | 1972-73 | Jim Gano |
“They scored a lot (in the first meeting),” said Red Knights coach Rick Perez. “We wanted to take them out of their rhythm, and we were able to do that. When No. 3 (Jermaine Towles) is shooting, when No. 20 (Alex Collado) is shooting, now they’re not playing their percentages, and that’s what we want to get teams doing.”
“We want to make people uncomfortable,” Grey said. “Throw people off balance (so) they can’t run their offense.”
The victory completes the best regular season in Perez’s 12 years and one of the best in program history. Going unbeaten against a schedule that includes district playoff contenders such as Wilson, Exeter, Berks Catholic and Muhlenberg wasn’t lost on Perez.
“That’s a major accomplishment,” he said, “especially (with) where Berks County basketball is now. Berks County basketball’s at the top of the food chain when it comes to Pennsylvania. To be able to go 11-0 is an amazing accomplishment. I’m very proud of our young men.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Reading High | 10 | 18 | 16 | 22 | 66 |
| Muhlenberg | 9 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 47 |
| Red Knights (21-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 1-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| R. Rodriguez | 4-10 | 5-7 | 1-4 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| Grey | 3-11 | 1-3 | 0-4 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Rodriguez | 7-11 | 3-4 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
| Osumanu | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Cruz | 5-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| Chapman | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ortega | 1-1 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Sosa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rosario | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Burgess | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 23-48 | 18-28 | 2-12 | 10 | 26-33 | 66 |
| Muhls (14-8) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Robertson | 3-13 | 2-3 | 1-7 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| Mosquera | 2-14 | 2-2 | 1-6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Valentin | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Alcantara | 2-4 | 3-4 | 2-4 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Adonis | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Towles | 3-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Archie | 2-4 | 5-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| Collado | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Branch | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Killen | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 14-52 | 14-16 | 5-23 | 5 | 35-38 | 47 |
Turnovers: Reading High 10, Muhlenberg 15.
