Josh McKoy adds defensive stopper to his resume as Saints shut down Blue Raiders
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
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By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
When Kingston McKoy went out with a season-ending injury a month ago each of his Berks Catholic teammates were forced to step up and a little more to their game.
No one has carried a heavier load since then than Kingston’s older brother Josh, who’s had to expand all of his many roles. The 6-4 senior’s been relied on to score more points, handle the ball against pressure and step out of his comfort zone to become more of a vocal leader.
Friday, in the Saint’s District 3 opener, he was relied on to be the defensive stopper, too.
That used to be his brother’s job. Josh took that and handled it with flying colors, helping hold Middletown scoring star Mason Blazer in check as the Saints opened defense of their District 3 Class 4A championship with a 44-37 quarterfinal win at Wolf Gymnasium.
Blazer finished with a game-high 17 points but it came at the cost of 18 shots and it wasn’t nearly enough to keep the top-ranked Saints from advancing to a Tuesday semifinal against No. 5 Eastern York.
“Coach said if we could take him out of the game we’d win,” McKoy said, “so that’s what we had to do. He’s a good player, and I felt like my defense stood out tonight. He did score, but all good players are gonna score. We came out with the dub and that’s all that really matters.”
McKoy guarded the 6-5 Blazer, a 1,000-pointer scorer who averages better than 22 points per game, for the first 22 minutes of the game.
When McKoy picked up his third foul senior Elijah Komoro took over defensive duties on the St. Petersburg College recruit and did a strong job, as well.
“We didn’t want him to get his fourth,” Saints coach Snip Esterly said of McKoy, “so we had to give Elijah a shot at him, and I thought Elijah did a fantastic job on him. He was denying him the ball, and he has enough length to create problems.”
Komoro used his length to create the play of the game when he came from behind and swatted the ball away as Blazer was about to score on a breakaway layup. The Saints were leading 36-27 at the time.
That, and four free throws by McKoy and Brady Altimar over the next 30 seconds, helped the Saints (21-3) ice the game and claim their seventh straight district playoff win.
They’ve won back-to-back district titles and defense has been a major reason why. Without Kingston McKoy’s presence to run the offense, stopping teams from scoring will be more imperative than ever the rest of the way.
The Saints were the first team all season to hold Middletown under 40 points. The Blue Raiders’ starting five combined for eight baskets and 25 points.
“When all five guys are playing defense,” said Komoro, “things just come together for us.”
Josh McKoy did more than just play defense, of course. He scored a team-high 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had four assists. He knows there’s a lot more on his shoulders now that his brother is sidelined with a broken leg.
“I’m trying to do everything,” said the All-Berks center. “I’m trying to rebound – I’m trying to do a lot. I feel that’s what I’ve gotta do to keep on winning.”
The Saints got 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds from all-division forward Parker Nein and five fourth-quarter free throws from Brady Altimar.
The best thing they did was keep Blazer from taking over the game the way he did in the opening round, when he dropped 27 against Boiling Springs. The Saints made him work for everything. He struggled to score in the set offense, was 6-of-18 from the field and just 1-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Two of his six baskets came off tip-ins; two others came off inbounds plays.
Blazer had just one basket and five points at the half, and his team trailed 23-16.
“Josh did a great job on him,” Esterly said. “I told him: ‘Just don’t get frustrated if he scores points, because he’s a nice ballplayer.’ ”
Next up for the Saints is an Eastern York team that went on the road Friday and beat Octorara by 25 points. If they beat the Golden Knights they may be looking at a district championship rematch against second-seeded Fleetwood.
A month ago, with best player on the floor, writhing in pain, the chances for that looked dim. Now the Saints are a couple wins away from a three-peat.
“A lot of people were saying a lot of things (about our chances) when (Kingston) went down,” Komoro said. “It’s definitely driven us. We’re just here to play basketball and if we prove ’em wrong that’s what we’re gonna do.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Middletown | 7 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 37 |
| Berks Catholic | 3 | 20 | 6 | 15 | 44 |
| Blue Raiders (16-8) | FG | FT | 3s | A | R | Points |
| Keyser | 1-2 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Blazer | 6-18 | 4-5 | 1-8 | 0 | 5 | 17 |
| Moore | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Dupes | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Horetsky | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Batts | 4-9 | 2-2 | 2-6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Thear | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Burkholder | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Askins | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 12-39 | 9-11 | 4-20 | 2 | 19/21 | 37 |
| Saints (21-3) | FG | FT | 3s | A | R | Points |
| Dominguez | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Nein | 4-12 | 3-6 | 1-3 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| J. McKoy | 5-10 | 6-10 | 0-1 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Altimar | 0-2 | 5-8 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Komoro | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Suski | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diaz | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Garcia | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kozik | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giesa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fidler | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 13-37 | 14-26 | 2-9 | 4 | 26/30 | 44 |
Turnovers: Middletown 9, Berks Catholic 8. Team rebounds: Middletown 2, Berks Catholic 4.