Here’s a glance at the Berks Conference quarterfinal match-ups
The Berks Conference playoffs get underway Monday, with quarterfinal games at the site of the higher-seeded team, each starting at 7.
The semifinals will be Wednesday at Santander Arena. The championship returns to the Big House Friday at 8, after the BCIAA girls title game.
Here’s a glance at the eight qualifiers:
No. 1 Reading High (19-3) vs. No. 8 Wyomissing (12-9)
The Red Knights: They’ve been the presumptive favorite since Stevie Mitchell walked across the stage at Wilson graduation and there’s no reason to think otherwise now, even with that loss to Muhlenberg last week. That will only serve to refocus the Red Knights for a long playoff run that could see them playing for three championships over the next six weeks. They’re the favorite — maybe a clear favorite — in District 3 Class 6A. Once they get to March and the PIAA Tournament they’ve got as good a chance against anyone if they’re at the top of their game.
Mitchell and the Bulldogs stopped them from winning their record 25th Berks title in last year’s thrilling championship; there are no Stevie Mitchells around this year to deny them.
The Spartans: This would appear to be the most lopsided match-up of the first round, but you never know. Don’t forget: Wyomissing once knocked off Reading High in the Berks playoffs. It came in 1986 and likely ranks as the greatest upset in Berks basketball history. The Spartans went on to beat Wilson for the championship.
League playoff wins have been in short supply since; they’ve had just one in the past five years.
Making it this far hasn’t been easy for the Spartans They started 10 days late because of football. Were shut down twice by COVID. Had to scramble at the end, with nine games over the final two weeks. They’re playing their best right now, with seven wins in their last 10 games.
Senior Julian O’Brien is one of the top guards in the county; he’s averaging 16.2 points.
No. 4 Muhlenberg (17-5) vs. No. 5 Fleetwood (16-5)
The Muhls: They enter with a ton of momentum after ending the regular season with six straight wins, including a storm-the-court 63-61 victory over Reading High. That, coach Matt Flowers said, set the bar even higher for the Muhls.
Edwin Suarez, a 6-6 senior center, is a Berks Player of the Year candidate who’s averaging 19.3 points and double-digit rebounds per game. He’s the kind of player who can carry a team to a championship. To get their first Berks title in over 50 years they’ll have to go through Reading High again, then likely beat either Wilson or Berks Catholic in the final. They lost to each during the regular season. That’s a high bar, indeed.
The Tigers: They’ve broken a couple of long droughts with a breakout season. They’re in the Berks playoffs for the first time since 2003 and made districts for the first time since 2000. Their 16 wins are the most for the program since 1990; the Berks III title was their first division title 1956.
They haven’t won a postseason game since 1990, when Jeff Wolfe was the head coach and they won a District 3 title.
No. 2 Berks Catholic (18-3) vs. No. 7 Antietam (19-3)
The Saints: After a rare down season — actually their first down season — they’re back in the playoffs and have a strong chance to reach the title game for the first time since 2019, when they made the last of eight straight trips to the championship.
They have an impressive resume, with just three losses — two to Reading High — and a string of victories over top programs. This might be the best-shooting team Snip Esterly’s ever coached and, with Josiah Jordan slashing to the hoop, one of the toughest teams to stop.
Jordan, Ryan Koch and Aidan Sands are all candidates to crack the All-Berks team with a strong tournament week.
The Mounts: They’ll enter the tournament with a chip on their shoulder, and for good reason. They were dissed by the other playoff-qualifying coaches and dropped from No. 4 and a home game — based on power rating — to No. 7.
That’s a shame, because they’ve put together one of the finest seasons the program’s had in over 40 years. With one more win they’ll become just the second 20-game winner since the program name switched from Mount Penn to Antietam in 1990.
The Mounts haven’t won a league playoff game since 1993; they likely weren’t going to even if they had remained the No. 4 seed. As the smallest school in the league their season will be judged by their performance in districts, where they’re the No. 1 seed in Class 2A.
No. 3 Wilson (14-7) vs. No. 6 Exeter (10-11)
The Bulldogs: They’ve done a pretty remarkable rebuild job overnight after graduating the program’s all-time leading scorer and all but one starter. After a sluggish start they hit stride at midseason, beating Muhlenberg and Berks Catholic in back-to-back games. They won 10-of-11 before losses in the final week on the road at Berks Catholic and Reading High.
They’ve got nice length, some shooters and in Cameron Jones the best on-ball defender in the league. They’re very young though — just a couple seniors in the rotation — and this is not the year to be young, not with the high level of competition at the top of their division.
The Eagles: They were cruising right along a month ago and, at 9-4, were in line for a district playoff opener — quite a turnaround after a three-win season. The competition, and more lately injuries, have caught up with them over the past three weeks. They’re limping into the postseason having lost four straight and 7-of-8.
Joey Schlaffer, their No. 2 scorer, has not played in more than 10 days because of a wrist injury; top scorer Colin Payne, who was battling for a league scoring championship, is also less than 100 percent.
