In a season of ultimate parity in Berks I, every game’s a big game
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As he prepared to leave Muhlenberg’s gym Monday night Wilson coach Matt Coldren tried to push aside a loss to the Muhls and look ahead to the final week of play in Division I of the Berks Conference.
“We’ve got a big one on Thursday,” he said. “Every one’s a big one.”
Indeed, in a season where little separates the top five teams in the league every game truly has been a big one.
With Reading High’s two-time Player of the Year Ruben Rodriguez and most of his state-championship cast gone after two years of domination the league has been as wide open as ever.
You’d need a crowbar to pry apart Muhlenberg (6-3, 12-7), Reading High (6-3, 12-7) and Wilson (6-3, 13-6) in Berks I; they head into the final round of league games in a three-way tie for first place.
The top teams in Division II, Berks Catholic and Exeter, are just as good if not better than any of the teams in in the league’s big-school division.
Who can say which is the best right now? Or will be in two weeks when the league tournament tips.
Berks Catholic began to separate itself with a perfect start that saw it sweep the top Berks I contenders but late in the last of those match-ups, against Reading, the Saints lost their top player, Kingston McKoy. He won’t play again this season. His injury leveled the playing field.
The balance at the top has made for a thrilling regular season: Muhlenberg went to overtime against both Wilson and Reading; Wilson beat Exeter by a point; Berks Catholic topped Reading by two.
The final few days of league play should provide more edge-of-the-seat excitement. That starts Thursday when the Red Knights visit West Lawn while the Muhls are at Daniel Boone (2-8 Berks II, 8-11).
League play wraps up Tuesday when Muhlenberg heads to the Geigle and Wilson closes at Gov. Mifflin. You couldn’t ask for a more intriguing final night.
The first of those finales will see Rick Perez – the engineer of three Reading state championships in the previous seven seasons – heading back to the place he called home for a dozen years. He’ll face his former players and one of his former assistants, Francis Camara, now the Red Knights’ head coach.
Perez is now an assistant at Muhlenberg, trying to help long-time wing man and former Reading High assistant Matt Flowers bring home what would be the firsts Berks I title for the Muhls in more than 40 years.
The emotion will be oozing onto the court.
The basketball should be pretty good, too. The first time those two teams tangled they needed two extra periods to decide it; one overtime wasn’t enough. The Red Knights scored the final eight points of regulation to force extra time but ran out of gas in the second OT as the Muhls pulled away for an 87-74 win.
Before that rematch comes Reading-Wilson, Round II. The Red Knights pulled out a surprising victory in the first one, all things considered. Two nights after getting run off their own court by Exeter, 79-55, and playing without defensive stopper Nick Chapman, they held the Bulldogs without a basket over the final 4 ½ minutes to rally for an unlikely 54-48 victory.
Even if the Bulldogs can flip the script Thursday and emerge with a victory that keeps them in first place they aren’t home free. They’ll still need to win at Shillington to wrap up their first title since Stevie Mitchell led them through a perfect league run and to a 28-1 record in 2019-20.
The Mustangs (3-7, 7-12) have struggled at times this season but they’ve also had their moments. They knocked off Muhlenberg 64-59 last week and took out Hempfield – a top Lancaster-Lebanon League contender – a few weeks earlier. They gave the Bulldogs a game at West Lawn three weeks ago before falling 49-43.
Each of the three Berks I contenders has two league games remaining. Whichever one goes 2-0 wins the division.
There is a possibility they could end up in a three-way tie, all at 7-4. That would require either Mifflin to beat Wilson or Boone to beat Muhlenberg, with everything else falling into place.
In that scenario head-to-head record against the other two first-place teams will determine the division champ. If still tied power rating will determine the division champ.
Muhlenberg (2-1) has the edge over Reading (1-1) and Wilson (1-2) in head-to-head match-ups. Wilson (.702) has the edge over Reading (.686) and Muhlenberg (.667) in power rating.
It’s a rare season when there remains no odds-on favorite for league champ as the calendar flips to February.
Coldren hopes his team grasps the sense of urgency at play the next time it takes the court.
“Life goes by fast,” he said. “Seasons go by fast. You have to cherish every opportunity that you have because you never know what’s going to happen.”
