Season-opener a coronation for Berks Catholic sophomore Kingston McKoy
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
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For most of the past four seasons Josiah “Jay-Jay” Jordan pretty much controlled the action on the floor for Berks Catholic. He was as dynamic on defense as he was on the other end, where he became the Saints’ all-time leading scorer.
Now it’s time for someone else to occupy the throne: It’s only fitting that it’s someone named Kingston (McKoy).
The precocious sophomore took center stage in the Saints’ season-opener Friday night, controlling the action and scoring a career-high 21 points in a 54-32 win over Cedar Crest in the City of Basketball Love Tournament at Reiffton.
“That’s the Kingston I see every day in practice,” said Saints coach Snip Esterly, who saw his multi-talented lead guard blow past defenders and take the ball into the lane where he either pulled up for short jumpers or took the ball to the glass.
The Falcons (1-1) had no one who could stop him.
“I think my first step is one of the best,” said McKoy. “I work on my first step all the time; it’s just something I’ve got in my bag.”
McKoy’s bag of skills is stuffed like Santa’s on Christmas Eve; now it appears he’s about to share them with everyone on Berks Catholic’s schedule.
He played a key role for the District 3 Class 4A champion Saints as a freshman, mostly as a defensive stopper. He was officially the sixth man but by midseason he was earning starter’s minutes.
He didn’t score a lot – he had a season-high 18 in a big late-season win over Muhlenberg – but there were plenty of other guys to do that. All-Berks pick Ryan Koch and wing guard Jack Miller were among the best shooters in the league. And then there was Jordan, who averaged 14.1 points and finished with 1,128, eclipsing Casey Jack’s program record by 10.
They’re all gone now and Esterly needs someone else to fill it up. He won’t have to wait for Santa to deliver one.
Josh McKoy, a 6-3 senior and Kingston’s older brother, certainly can produce. He was third on the team in scoring last season at 9.6 per game and had 11 first-half points Friday.
Senior wing Parker Nein will put the ball in the basket plenty this season, too. He showed he was capable of that throughout the summer season, sparking the Saints to the West Reading Summer League title. He showed it again in the first quarter Friday when he had seven of BC’s 14 points.
That trio – Nein and the McKoys – accounted for 44 of the Saints’ 54 points. In fact it wasn’t until midway through the fourth quarter, when Brady Altimar hit a 3-pointer, that someone other than those three scored for BC.
Esterly knows he’ll need production from others if the Saints are to make a run at a third straight district title but he’s not concerned about it yet.
“That’ll come,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure they feel comfortable. It’s the first varsity game for (a lot of) those guys. Overall, I thought they did a fantastic job.”
Senior Elijah Komoro, a 6-foot forward, got his first start. Altimar, a sophomore, and senior Armanni Dominguez saw extended minutes for the first time. All of them contributed on defense.
Altimar is listed at 5-6, Dominguez at 5-9. They’re not big but they’re quick and brought energy off the bench. Truth is the Saints played better with their smaller lineup on the floor. Altimar even had six rebounds, just one less than each of the McKoys.
Cedar Crest had a distinct size advantage, with 6-6 junior RJ Young and 6-6 senior Aiden Schomp, but the Saints scrapped on the boards so well and played such sound defense they were able to neutralize that.
Josh McKoy, a long 6-3, contested shots inside; Kingston used his ball-hawking skills to come up with four steals and help force many of Cedar Crest’s 18 turnovers.
The Falcons scored 63 points in their season-opening win over Conestoga Valley. They got half that Friday and shot less than 25 percent from the field. They were 0-for-8 from 3-point range. A third of their points came from the free line.
“Defense is one of our strong suits,” Kingston McKoy said. “We’re all about that.”
“I thought we played the big guy (Young) tough,” Esterly said. “We handled the guards’ handoffs. I thought we did very well.”
Kingston McKoy got off to a slow start. He didn’t score in the first quarter, missing two shots. He opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and was running downhill the rest of the way.
“Shooting at Exeter is always a little different,” he said. “We use Wilson balls instead of the Spalding ones. But I got it going. I found out what I could do on this court, I got to midrange line, my midrange pull-up. I saw they were taking charges, so I pulled up in front of them.”
Esterly liked the way Kingston got his teammates involved in the second half, driving the lane and kicking the ball back out.
“These guys are gonna feast on him,” Esterly said. “Brady got open looks in the corner; Parker got some open looks.
“Kingston’s a tough match-up. He’s 6-2ish. He can hit the 3. He can go left, go right. He can pull up. And he can finish. He’s tough.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cedar Crest | 6 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 32 |
| Berks Catholic | 14 | 11 | 10 | 19 | 54 |
| Falcons (1-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| L. Tirado | 1-8 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Marquez | 1-5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| Chernich | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Young | 6-10 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 12 | 13 |
| Schomp | 0-8 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Speaks | 0-3 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Custer | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Groff | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Wolfe | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| K. Tirado | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abreu | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 11-45 | 10-11 | 0-8 | 2 | 32/33 | 32 |
Turnovers: 18. Team rebounds: 1.
| Saints (1-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Nein | 5-9 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| K. McKoy | 10-20 | 0-1 | 1-6 | 2 | 7 | 21 |
| J. McKoy | 4-10 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| Komoro | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Diaz | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dominguez | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Altimar | 2-5 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Suski | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Manon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garcia | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kozik | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bennett | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fidler | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-48 | 5-11 | 5-17 | 8 | 30/31 | 54 |
Turnovers: 11. Team rebounds: 1.
