Long nights, big shots add up to 2,000 for Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez
As Ruben Rodriguez went to the foul line with several minutes left Tuesday in Reading High’s 55-32 win over Spring-Ford, teammate did Myles Grey turned to take a peek at the scoreboard.
He noticed Ruben Rodriguez was creeping up on a special number.
The Red Knights’ All-State guard had a slow start Tuesday. He scored just two points in the first half. His chances of scoring 20 and reaching 2,000 career points seemed remote at that point, especially considering the slow pace of the game.
Rodriguez, as he almost always does, began to heat up after the slow start. He drained a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter, after Nick Chapman hustled down a rebound off Yadiel Cruz’s missed free throw.
| Berks scoring leaders | School | Senior | Points |
| Ron Krick | West Reading | 1961 | 3,174 |
| Charlie Copp | Tulpehocken | 2000 | 2,440 |
| Keith Bricker | Conrad Weiser | 1978 | 2,221 |
| Stevie Mitchell | Wilson | 2021 | 2,060 |
| Jarrad Gruber | Hamburg | 2000 | 2,014 |
| Aaron Williamson | Hamburg | 2012 | 2,012 |
| Ruben Rodriguez | Muhl./Reading | 2023 | 2,000 |
The Rams, in desperation mode, began fouling every chance they got in the fourth quarter.
Rodriguez, fouled several times after defensive rebounds, made nine trips to the foul line in the final quarter. He hit seven straight over a 61-second span, giving him 18 points for the night.
“Aris (Rodriguez) was the person telling me: ‘You’re gonna get it.’ When he’s giving me that much hype, it just makes me want to go do it; I love him for that. I love all my teammates. They were really happy for me, and I appreciate that.”
When Grey pulled down a Spring-Ford miss next time down the court he heaved the ball toward the other end of the court. Rodriguez collected it, headed for the basket then, with Alex Lewis setting up to take a charge, adeptly pulled up and sent a floater toward the basket.
When it went through it set off a wild celebration, as if the Red Knights had won a state championship – something they’ll try to do Saturday night at Giant Center.
Rodriguez ended up at the bottom of a dog pile at center court and a legion of Red Knights fans – easily three-fourths of the 2,000-plus jammed into Coatesville’s Ross Kershey Gymnasium – stood and cheered.
“My teammates at the end, they just started giving me the ball,” said Rodriguez of a closing rush which saw him score 11 fourth-quarter points, 10 in a 90-second stretch. “That just shows our culture here. We all love each other and share the love.”
Rodriguez had put thoughts of reaching the milestone away after a 1-for-6 shooting first half. Then the points started to pile up. Quickly. The scoreboard at Coatesville shows individual point totals so everyone realized he was getting close.
“Everyone on my team started telling me: ‘It’s the time to do it,’ ” Rodriguez said. “When they told me that, it was like: ‘Alright, I have to do it.’ Everyone was showing love and being selfless and letting me have that moment.
“When I scored (the 2,000th) they jumped on me like they wanted it, too. I really appreciate that from them. It shows the love.”
Rodriguez showed his promise as a freshman point guard at Muhlenberg when he averaged 10.3 points per game, second on the team. He was the youngest player on the court but led the Muhls to their first district championship, hitting several game-winners during the postseason.
He returned to Reading, where he grew up playing with Myles Grey, Amier Burdine and his other teammates, as a sophomore and lifted the Red Knights to the PIAA Class 6A championship. He averaged 14.6 points per game but no one was projecting him as a potential 2,000-point scorer.
He took his game to a new level as a junior, led the league in scoring at 19.8 points per game, earned the first of two straight Berks Player of the Year awards and committed to play at Rider University. He scored his 1,000th point at Santander Arena in January, in a win over Vertical Academy.
The second thousand came in roughly 14 months – 50 of them in a game last January against Daniel Boone to set a program single-game record.
In Reading’s 32 games this season he has scored 20 or more points 18 times, 30 or more seven times and a season-high 42 in a district playoff opener against Chambersburg.
He’s had more 30-point games (11) than any player in program history; he had three in a row in January, against Daniel Boone, Conrad Weiser and Harrisburg.
He’s averaging a league-leading 22.2 points per game this season – tied for fourth-highest in program history, trailing only Donyell Marshall, Bill Jankans and Stu Jackson.
Tuesday he became just the second Reading player to top 700 points in a season; Marshall was the first, with 794 in 1990-91.
His 593 points last season were fourth-most ever by a Reading junior; his 410 points as a sophomore were third-most in program history by a 10th-grader.
Rodriguez has always been more about winning than scoring, but all the winning he’s done has added up in the scoring column. Saturday, against Roman Catholic, he’ll play his 35th and final postseason career. He has scored 591 points in 34 postseason games, an average of 17.4. He’s averaging 22.0 points during the current state playoff run.
“Ruben’s magical,” said Reading coach Rick Perez. “Anything he does never surprises anybody anymore. He always finds a way to prevail. Ruben . . . he’s a winner, a born winner.”
Rodriguez didn’t do all the math behind his milestone achievement. It came up quickly on him, too.
“I still don’t know how it’s possible,” he said modestly. “I worked really hard, especially during that COVID time, to develop my game to be a next-level player.
“(There were a lot of) long nights for me, my grandpa, my dad, just working out. It paid off. Just working out with my dad, and all the coaches I’ve had, and all the trainers, I just want say thank you to them because without them I wouldn’t be the player I am.”
