Knights take Bulldogs’ best punch, bounce back to remain unbeaten in Berks I
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Yadiel Cruz scored seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, including the first five of the period, to spark Reading High to a 56-43 Berks Conference Division I victory over Wilson Thursday night at the Geigle Complex.
Reading (10-0, 20-1) seemed to be in complete control of the game, building a 14 point halftime lead behind the sharp shooting of Aris Rodriguez and the electric penetration of Ruben Rodriguez, along with some stifling defense
The lead grew to 16 early in the third before the Bulldogs (6-4, 14-6) made their run. Seamus Breslin tracked down a rebound, went the length of the floor and converted a layup on a spectacular hustle play that breathed life into the Bulldogs.
Wilson ran off 10 straight points and outscored the Red Knights 20-8 in the period, with Cam Jones hitting a layup at the buzzer to cut the Red Knights’ lead to two going into the fourth quarter.
“You have to be able to take punches,” said Reading High Coach Rick Perez. “That’s Wilson over there. Coach (Matt) Coldren’s team. You know they are gonna make adjustments and make a run. They are tough, well-coached players.”
The Red Knights did not panic. Dominican Republic native Cruz took over to start the fourth quarter. He hit a 3-pointer from the corner (his second of the game) to open the scoring in the fourth and increase Reading’s lead to five. On the next possession Cruz scored again, getting the Reading lead back up to seven. Those five points by Cruz got the Reading crowd back into the game and stole the momentum back from the Bulldogs.
“At the start of the fourth quarter we knew we had to do something positive on offense and grow the lead back up,” Cruz said through an interpreter.
Cruz entered the game averaging 7.8 points, having only made six 3’s all season. He finished with 14 points to go with two 3’s. Sometimes the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“He has an excellent 3-point shot,” Perez said. “We can’t take credit for it. He came to us with it. He hasn’t shot as much because he has only been in our country for six months or so. We keep encouraging him to shoot more.”
“The coaches keep telling me to shoot more 3’s in games,” Cruz said. “They are really helping my confidence by telling me to shoot.”
Reading won the first meeting, at West Lawn, 44-39 in early January. The win was its sixth straight in the series; Wilson’s last win in the series came in 2021, in the Berks Conference championship game.
The Red Knights clinched their third straight Berks I title last week. A win at Muhlenberg Tuesday will give them their first unbeaten league season since 2017-18.
The loss dropped the Bulldogs into a second-place tie with Muhlenberg, which defeated Daniel Boone. Wilson wraps up league play Tuesday against Gov. Mifflin.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson | 3 | 12 | 20 | 8 | 43 |
| Reading High | 13 | 16 | 8 | 19 | 56 |
| Bulldogs () | FG | FT | Points |
| Melograna | 2 | 0-0 | 6 |
| Harding | 2 | 2-4 | 6 |
| Gruber | 2 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Odiale | 3 | 2-2 | 8 |
| Breslin | 3 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Jones | 4 | 0-0 | 10 |
| Hunsicker | 0 | 1-2 | 1 |
| McFadden | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 16 | 5-8 | 43 |
| Red Knights () | FG | FT | Points |
| R. Rodriguez | 4 | 8 – 12 | 16 |
| A. Rodriguez | 4 | 6 – 7 | 16 |
| Grey | 1 | 2 – 2 | 5 |
| Burdine | 1 | 1 – 2 | 3 |
| Osumara | 0 | 2 – 2 | 2 |
| Cruz | 5 | 2 – 2 | 14 |
| Rosario | 0 | 0 – 0 | 0 |
| Chapman | 0 | 0 – 0 | 0 |
| Ortega | 0 | 0 – 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 15 | 21 – 27 | 56 |
3-point field goals: Wilson: Melograna 2, Jones 2, Breslin, Gruber. Reading High: A. Rodriguez 2, Cruz 2, Grey.Turnovers: Wilson 12, Reading High 8.
