Hoops review: 10 most memorable Berks games of the postseason
The postseason didn’t last long for Berks Conference teams. A dozen made it to districts; half of them were eliminated in their first game. Reading High and Berks Catholic won District 3 titles but the other 10 teams went a combined 6-15.
The PIAA Tournament was went by even quicker: Only Reading High made it past the first round; four other Berks teams went out in the first round. Combined, Berks they went 1-5 in states, one of least successful seasons in years.
Here’s a look at the 10 Most Memorable games of the postseason. As usual, we’ll go in Letterman style: From No. 10 to No. 1 (no skipping ahead to see what’s No. 1!)
No. 10: Tulpehocken 48, Brandywine Heights 44
No one’s ever thrilled about opening the district tournament against a team from your own division; that goes double for the Bullets, who had already lost to the Trojans twice in Berks IV play. The third time, in a District 3 Class 3A quarterfinal, proved to be the hardest for Tulpehocken. Jayden Kantner made sure of that.
The Brandywine freshman scored a career-high 21 points, all in the second half, helping trim a 15-point third-quarter deficit to one.
The Trojans pulled it back together, with Bryce Mellen hitting some big free throws at the end to secure the program’s first district victory in 15 years.
No. 9: Reading High 46, Cedar Cliff 39
The Red Knights, playing for the first time since Daniel Alcantara went down with a broken wrist, had a tall task ahead of them against the Colts. Literally. Cedar Cliff’s brother combination of Tyler and Justin Houser go 6-9 and 6-10, respectively and dwarfed a Reading team with no starter taller than 6-2.
That didn’t deter Joey Chapman or Xavier Davis, who battled the bigs in the post, held the twin towers to a combined 19 points and helped Reading win the rebounding battle, 32-22.
Chapman, switching to Alcantara’s No. 21 jersey from his own No. 22, was inspired to represent his fallen brother and played an emotional game.
“It was messing with my mind,” Chapman said of Alcantara’s injury, “but we put that to the side today and just played for him and bigger things. We knew we had to step up; it’s even harder that he’s not on the court, so that’s what we all did.”
No. 8: Berks Catholic 60, Middletown 37
The Saints saved their best performance of the season for the District 3 Class 4A championship game. They were near flawless in the first half. They ended the first quarter with 17 straight points and coupled that with a brilliant defensive effort that saw them go into intermission leading 32-12.
Junior guard Josiah Jordan scored Berks Catholic’s first two baskets, had eight first-quarter points and a game-high 17 overall. He played under control, making 7-of-12 shots, and with aggressiveness on the boards.
“They had no answer for him,” said Saints coach Snip Esterly. “He was fantastic tonight.”
After struggling with their 3-point shooting at Santander Arena the Saints found the range at Giant Center, making 8-of-17 from beyond the arc.
“My teammates were on, I was on,” said Jordan. “It was a good day. This is something we waited on, and the energy showed. We showed out today.”
No. 7: Exeter 55, Wilson 51
The Eagles went into the postseason having lost seven of their final games, and without 6-6 junior Joey Schlaffer, who injured his wrist late in the season. Their hopes of doing something in the postseason looked dim.
The Exeter put together their best effort of the season, stunning the sixth-seeded Bulldogs in the opening round of the Berks Conference playoffs at West Lawn. They got a game-high 21 points from senior wing Colin Payne and a career night from 6-6 center Anthony Caccese, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
“I can’t say enough about how happy I am for these kids,” said Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft. “To be able to take positives from loss after loss after loss . . . The kids stayed together. Tonight we put it all together, and what better time to do it than the first round of playoffs.”
The win sent the Eagles to Santander Arena and the Berks semifinals for the first time in four years.
No. 6: Lancaster Mennonite 52, Antietam 46
The Mounts entered the District 3 Class 2A championship game as clear underdogs against the defending champion Blazers, who had beaten them in last year’s final and in a regular-season game in December.
Their chances looked even dimmer when leading scorer Hector Tiburcio picked up three fouls in the first 4 1/2 minutes, and a fourth foul later in the first half, and when Jovan Hollis joined him on the bench with four fouls before halftime.
The fact that that Mounts hung close was amazing; the fact that they led 46-43 with six minutes to go was a bit of a minor miracle.
Tiburcio played most of the second half and stayed on the floor without fouling out, though he scored just 12 points.
“It was real tough knowing I couldn’t play how I wanted to play,” he said. “It didn’t only mess up my defensive game, it also messed me up on offense. I wasn’t fully there. I was kind of playing hesitant the whole way through.”
No. 5: Berks Catholic 41, Exeter 40
What’s better than a playoff buzzer-beater?
Redemption, perhaps.
Josiah Jordan had both in the Saints’ Berks Conference semifinal, coming off the bench to hit the game-winner with 7.8 seconds left. He had been pulled earlier and watched a good chunk of the second half from the bench.
With his team down a point in the final seconds Jordan drove hard to the basket, pulled up deep in the lane and hit a shot that gave them the lead.
“I mean, everyone knows that’s my game,” he said, “and that’s what I resorted to. I knew I had to stay poised. I knew we were going to need a (big) play.”
The Eagles were on the verge of a second straight upset after knocking off Wilson in the quarterfinals.
“Give him credit,” Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft said of Jordan. “He made a tough shot at the end. I thought we contested it pretty well. He hit a clutch, clutch shot.”
No. 4: Archbishop Carroll 68, Berks Catholic 61
One game after playing their best the Saints came out cold against the Patriots in their PIAA Class 4A Tournament opener and it cost them their season.
The Saints missed seven straight 3-pointers early in the first half, couldn’t find a way to stop big-time prospect Moses Hipps and found themselves trailing 54-27 late in the third quarter.
They responded with a near-miraculous rally that saw them score 19 straight points and cut the lead to six a couple times in the final minutes. The comeback stalled after that. and one of the Saints’ best seasons came to a premature ending.
“We started coming back, and I got excited, and more excited,” said senior Aidan Sands, “and then we just fell short.”
No. 3: Reading High 70, Muhlenberg 54
Eight days after handing the Red Knights their only league defeat the Muhls were back at it again in the Berks Conference semifinals, threatening to hand them another.
Muhlenberg was up 44-41 late in the third quarter when Daniel Alcantara smartly stepped in front of Edwin Suarez and took a charge, sending the All-Berks center to the bench with his fourth foul. The Muhls were done.
Reading scored eight straight points to take control, then, when Suarez fouled fouled out with 3:12 left, the Red Knights went on another big run, turning the game into a rout.
“We know when Edwin’s out (of the game) there’s a higher chance of us getting on a run,” said Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez. “He’s a big-time player, obviously. We know that’s the go-to guy, so we get him out of the game, they start to crumble.”
Suarez, who had 21 in Muhlenberg’s win over Reading, scored just nine points (though he grabbed 20 rebounds).
Alcantara poured in a game-high 27 for Reading, to go with eight rebounds.
No. 2: Cedar Cliff, Muhlenberg 54
One less whistle and this game ends up at No. 1 on the list.
The Muhls thought they had completed a big comeback in their District 3 Class 6A opener at Camp Hill. They were down 10 at the half, 12 in the third quarter and nine in the fourth before turning up the defensive heat and taking over the game. They finally took the lead on Jarrett Jackson’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, then seemed to have the Colts — who had led the entire way — flustered on the other end.
Cedar Cliff struggled to find a shot before an entry pass went into the post. Muhls center Edwin Suarez reached around Tyler Houser and knocked the ball away. The Muhls recovered, and then . . .
“I thought he played amazing defense,” Muhlenberg’s J’Daniel Mosquera said of Suarez. “He tipped the ball out. I replayed the video (in the locker room), and it looked clean to me, but they called it.”
The loss ended the season for Muhlenberg, which looked positioned for a run into the state playoffs.
“It should’ve been decided by the kids,” said Muhls coach Matt Flowers, “(not) a whistle that was blown at the end of the game.”
“I thought we were gonna win the game,” Mosquera said. “I didn’t think they were going to call that foul, but they did. We fought all the way back, just for that to happen — it was a heart-breaker. You can’t get that back.”
No. 1: Archbishop Wood 64, Reading High 58
It’s hard to say what was more incredible: Seeing the Red Knights trailing 40-15 to a team they had beaten seven weeks or earlier or their comeback bid, which saw them close the gap to two points twice in the final minutes of this PIAA Class 6A second-round game.
“I knew that it was going to be a tough comeback,” said Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez, “but we were capable of doing it. I’m just proud of how we finished it up.”
The Red Knights, picking up the defensive heat with their fullcourt traps, put together a 16-0 run in the third quarter that got them within single digits. They later used a 14-0 run to make it 49-47 with 3:29 left.
“I knew at some point they were gonna show up,” Reading coach Rick Perez said of his kids. “We weren’t gonna go out like that. They just know how to stand in the face of adversity. They know how to fight.”
