Reading High boys, Wyomissing girls set for Wednesday tournament trips
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
The Reading High Red Knights earned another 32 minutes of basketball with their pulsating 65-63 win at Chester Saturday afternoon.
That’ll come Wednesday at Altoona at 6 when the Red Knights meet District 10 champ Erie McDowell in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A boys basketball tournament.
Wyomissing heads to Pottstown at 6 Wednesday for its second-round match-up, against Neumann-Goretti, in the Class 4A girls tournament.
The Red Knights (20-10) will be looking for their seventh straight PIAA Tournament victory as they return to Altoona, where they beat New Castle 72-48 last year in a state quarterfinal. A week later they claimed their third state championship with an overtime victory against Roman Catholic.
Reading has won 12 of its last 13 PIAA Tournament games and gone 18-3 over the past seven seasons, with three state championships.
McDowell (21-5) advanced with a 61-45 victory over District 7 runner-up Baldwin on Saturday. The Trojans beat Erie 52-47 in the district championship game, then lost to State College 46-44 in a subregional playoff, the winner earning a home game in the opening round of the state tournament.
Wyomissing (29-0), as expected, eased past Carver 43-22 in a first-round game Saturday. The Spartans are one win away from matching the best start in Berks girls basketball history – Daniel Boone won its first 30 games in 1990 – and from joining the Blazers and the 1991 Gov. Mifflin Mustangs as the county’s only 30-game winners.
Neumann-Goretti (19-6), the third-place finisher out of District 12, advanced with a 65-43 win over Blue Mountain.
The Saints finished fourth in the Philadelphia Catholic League, behind Archbishop Wood, Cardinal O’Hara, and Archbishop Carroll. They lost to Nazareth Academy in the league quarterfinals, then beat Prep Charter 57-17 to earn a spot in the state tournament.
