It’s a Knight to remember as Rick Perez becomes Reading’s winningest coach
The journey to win No. 252 was long and arduous for Rick Perez.
We’re not talking about the past 11 seasons, we’re talking about Friday night when his Reading High basketball team found itself down 19 points to Cardinal O’Hara.
It looked for a long while that Perez’s pursuit of the Red Knights’ all-time wins record would have to wait for another night. Myles Grey had other ideas.
He sparked a stirring comeback, scoring a team-high 20 points and walking away with the Hoop Group MVP honors as the Red Knights pulled out a thrilling 68-65 victory at the Geigle.
“With Ruben in foul trouble Myles knew he had to step up,” said senior teammate Amier Burdine. “We knew Myles could do that.”
Grey scored 15 second-half points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, had three assists and made several key defensive plays down the stretch against the fading Lions (2-1), who wore down against Reading’s game-long fullcourt pressure.
“Myles Grey just shows you that he knows how to win, in any aspect,” said Perez, who passed Jim Gano to become the winningest coach in Reading’s 122-year basketball history.
Perez, no doubt, was proud of the achievement and clung to the game ball — his first in 12 years as head coach, he said — but his players wanted it much more than he did.
“We knew going into this game we’ve gotta get this for Coach P,” said Burdine, “and I’m glad that we got it done for him.”
“He’ll go down as one of the best coaches, if not the best coach, in Reading High history,” Grey said. “All respect to Pete Carril and everybody else, his name’s going to be remembered for a very long time.
“To be part of it that win win that put him on top, it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Grey’s second-half performance will be hard to forget, too. He hit a pair of 3-pointers to close the third period, then made one of the pivotal plays of the game, grabbing a rebounding and firing an outlet pass to Aris Rodriugez, who scored in transition to tie it with 6:17 left.
Much of that came after All-State guard Ruben Rodriguez went to the bench with his fourth foul amd more than 11 minutes to play.
The Red Knights (3-0) took the lead for good on Aris Rodriguez’s baseline drive with 3:17 left and took their biggest lead at 64-62 when Ruben Rodriguez, who returned midway through the final quarter, knocked down a mid-range jumper.
The Lions closed within 66-65 when 6-8 forward Pearse McGuinn, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, put back a miss with 4.6 seconds left.
Ruben Rodriguez got the last of his 17 points with a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left, the finishing touches of what likely will be one of the Red Knights’ most memorable games of a season that promises to have many of them.
A rough start set up the game-ending scenario.
The Lions, bolstered this season by the addition of Drexel recruit Aasim “Flash” Burton, who played at MCS Charter last season, didn’t miss a shot for the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game, knocking down their first six attempts to lead 13-2.
That lead grew to 19 points in the second quarter as 6-5 Siena recruit Izaiah Pasha seemed to have his way. He hit his first four shots and had 11 first-half points.
“They were treating us like (practice) cones,” Perez said. “They got any shot they wanted.”
“Coming out, they smacked us,” Burdine said. “We weren’t expecting that. We regrouped. Second half, we knew we were gonna come back, we knew we were gonna have a chance to win this game.”
The Red Knights’ comeback was fueled by their trapping, fullcourt press. It helped forced 17 turnovers over the final three quarters and wore down the Lions’ starters, who rarely left the floor. O’Hara dressed just 10; only two bench guys saw time, and it was limited at that.
It’s no coincidence O’Hara knocked down four 3-pointer in the first half but went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the second half.
“That press was killing them,” Burdine said. “They started getting confused and aruging, that’s how we we knew (they were done).”
Grey noticed the Lions were getting tired; he knew it was only a matter of time.
“We’re conditioned,” he said. “Every day we’re running, we’re running, we’re running. A lot of teams don’t play like this, they don’t condition like us. Once it comes down to that stretch we know we’re gonna pull away just because of how we work.”
Grey scored or assisted on 10 of the first 12 Reading points of the fourth quarter, the last coming on his fourth 3-pointer, which gave the Knights a 60-58 lead with 3:42 to go.
Burdine, usually not an offensive force, came up big with 13 points; he also had six offensive rebounds.
Aris Rodriguez, after being held scoreless in the first half, finished with 13.
The comeback featured all the characteristics that have made Perez’s teams so successful over the years: Playing hard, playing together, believing in and depending on each other.
“I told them: Your emotions will tie the game,” Perez said, “your toughness will win it. That’s what happened.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cardinal O’Hara | 23 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 65 |
| Reading High | 12 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 68 |
| Lions (2-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Pasha | 7-9 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Burton | 4-12 | 5-6 | 1-5 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| Coulanges | 2-13 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| McQuinn | 7-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 9 | 15 |
| Cervellero | 5-6 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Hobbs | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-48 | 11-16 | 4-14 | 9 | 30-36 | 65 |
| Red Knights (3-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 6-10 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Cruz | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| R. Rodriguez | 5-12 | 5-6 | 2-5 | 2 | 3 | 17 |
| Grey | 8-19 | 0-0 | 4-9 | 3 | 9 | 20 |
| A. Rodriugez | 5-14 | 2-3 | 1-4 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| Osumanu | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Chapman | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Rosario | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sosa | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 26-68 | 9-14 | 7-23 | 7 | 28-32 | 68 |
Turnovers: O’Hara 18, Reading High 9.
