For Berks Catholic’s Ryan Koch, good things come in threes

When he was younger Ryan Koch wasn’t allowed to shoot 3-pointers.

Now it’s hard to stop him.

He wasn’t strong enough to shoot from beyond the arc when he was younger; his dad, Darren, didn’t want him forcing it or altering his shooting motion to get the ball to the rim.

“He didn’t want me to get into bad habits,” said Koch, a junior at Berks Catholic. “As I got older, I got stronger and fortunately I have the 3-pointer now. That’s what I rely on.”

Koch is the most prolific shooter on the best-shooting team Snip Esterly has ever coached. His best teams have always been post-oriented. He’s coached some of the greatest big men in Berks history: Joe Linderman, Donovon Jack and Nana Foulland.

This team, which plays fourth-seeded Littlestown Monday in a District 3 Class 4A semifinal at Wolf Gymnasium, is different than any Esterly has coached in his record-setting 33-year career. It plays a more wide-open offensive game and has an array of perimeter shooters, with Koch, Jack Miller and Aidan Sands all among the top 3-point shooters in the Berks Conference.

They have hit a league-leading 172 3’s in 25 games and crushed the program record of 137.

“We’re a big shooting team,” said Koch, a 6-3 forward with a sweet stroke. “Snip always says we’re one of the best shooting teams he’s had.

“We all rely on our 3. Everybody knows (point guard) Jay-Jay (Jordan) is the guy to penetrate and get to the basket, so it leaves us a lot more open.

“He penetrates; if he doesn’t have it he kicks to one of us three; we’re always spot up, ready to shoot.”

The combination works well. The Saints are 21-4, the No. 1 seed in the tournament and ranked in the Top 10 in the state in several Class 4A rankings.

Their balance and athleticism makes them tough to stop.

Jordan, a slasher who’s near impossible to keep from getting to the basket, leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game. He also has 13 3-pointers.

Koch averages 14.0 points and has 56 treys, second-most in the league.

Senior wing Aidan Sands averages 11.8 points and has 37 3’s. Junior guard Jack Miller, one of the purest shooters you’ll find, has 40 3’s and averages 7.6 points.

Five times this season Berks Catholic has knocked down 10 or more 3’s in a game; it had a season-high 12 against Reading High in a regular season game at Wolf Gymnasium. Against Holy Ghost Prep six different players hit from beyond the arc.

Koch has become the most lethal because of his quick trigger and his new-found ability to put the ball on the floor and take it to the rim when defenders come out to the line to guard him. With his length and perimeter game he’s a match-up problem for most teams.

“This year I’ve tried to go to the basket more, because everyone knows me as a shooter,” Koch said. “I’ve tried to extend my game.”

Koch is a relative late-comer to the sport. He didn’t start playing organized basketball until he was a seventh-grader and he played the post in junior high because of his height. It wasn’t until he came to Berks Catholic, from the Schuylkill Valley district, for ninth grade that he began to fully develop his outside game.

“When I came here, Snip made me a shooter,” he said. “I like playing on the wing. I never liked playing in the post.”

Esterly liked Koch’s game immediately and gave him plenty of minutes off the bench as a freshman. By the postseason he was in the starting lineup.

“You could see it,” Esterly said of his potential, “he had good length, (the form on) his shot was perfect, he just needed to get stronger, and he has.”

Koch was tentative that first season. Esterly urged him to shoot more but it took time for him to gain confidence.

“I thought if I missed I’d be taken out,” he said. “It was the opposite way around. He wanted me to shoot it. He’s (helped with my) confidence and made me the guy I am now. Coming in, I was scared to shoot. Once I got the confidence it started to fall.”

Koch made 31 3-pointers as a sophomore duing a COVID-truncated 16-game schedule last season. He has 56 in 25 games this season. His 99 career 3-pointers are just seven away from Tyrone Nesby IV’s program career record of 106.

The Saints, who have qualified for the PIAA Tournament, have at least three games remaining. Koch has a shot at the Saints’ single-season mark of 68, set by Matt Harley in 24 games in 2019-20.

“You always want to strive to be the best you can be,” Koch said. “If that (record) happens, it happens. I’m just trying to get to that state championship, that’s the biggest thing.”