PIAA Tournament preview: Reading High vs. Haverford
What: PIAA Tournament first round
Classification: Class 6A
Who: Reading High (27-1) vs. Haverford (14-13)
When: Saturday, 3
Where: Geigle Complex
About the Red Knights: Completed District 3 three-peat with 55-54 OT victory over Cumberland Valley, their record 24th district title. . . Have won 18 straight games, longest streak since winning 21 in a row in 2016-17. . . Lone loss came Dec. 29 to Gonzaga College of Washington, D.C, which was nationally ranked at the time. . . Have gone 27-0 vs. Pennsylvania schools. . . Two-time Berks Player of the Year Ruben Rodriguez leads the league in scoring at 22.2 per game and has scored 1,912 points, ninth-most in Berks history. . . His 1,624 points the last three seasons are second-most in program history, behind only Lonnie Walker IV. . . Senior and All-Berks pick Aris Rodriguez is averaging 14.0 points and shooting 71.1 percent from the foul line. . . Senior Myles Grey, an All-Berks pick and three-year starter, is averaging 12.9 points and shooting team-best 75.3 percent from the foul line. . . Ruben and Aris Rodriguez and Grey have combined for 128 3-pointers. . . Ranked No. 7 in the state by maxpreps.com among teams from all classes, and No. 2, behind Roman Catholic among Class 6A schools. . . Tied with Radnor (27-0) and Spring-Ford (27-3) for most wins in the state. . . . Have gone 6-1 in state tournament play the past three seasons and 15-4 over the past seven seasons, with championships in 2017 and 2021. . . Bumped in second round last season by Archbishop Wood 64-58, which went all the way to the finals.
Fast fact: Only two seniors at Reading have scored more points in a season than Ruben Rodriguez (621): Donyell Marshall (794) and Stu Jackson (667). Marshall played 32 games, Jackson 30.
About the Fords: Lost three times in five games in District 1 Tournament to finish 12th. . . Entered District 1 Tournament as the No. 21 seed and beat No. 12 William Tennent before losing to Downingtown West (45-42), beating Abington (66-54), losing to West Chester Henderson (61-44) and losing to Perkiomen Valley 68-53 in 11th-place game. . . Senior guard Googie Seidman, a 1,000-point scorer and Catholic University recruit, sparked the opening-round win, with 29 points and six steals; he went 14-for-16 from the foul line. . . He scored a career-high 36 points against Abington, hitting 8-of-11 field goals and 15-of-20 free throws. . . Finished seventh in Central League at 6-9, behind unbeaten league champ Radnor, Lower Merion and others. . . First state tournament appearance since 2014. . . Last PIAA Tournament win came in 1970.
Did you know? Reading High has had five 30-win seasons under five different coaches: Jim Gano (1981), Rick Binder (1983), Mike Miller (1991), Richard Reyes (2008) and Rick Perez (2017).
Winner gets: (11-2) Bethlehem Liberty or (1-6) Upper Darby (18-8) Wednesday, March 15.
