Reading High spurts past Waynesboro, ready to challenge for 3rd straight title
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Reading High played its typical brand of team-oriented basketball with relentless defensive pressure to overwhelm Waynesboro 55-31 in a District 3 Class 6A semifinal at the Geigle Complex Monday night.
The top-seeded Red Knights (26-1) will look for their third straight district title when they meet second-seeded Cumberland Valley Thursday at Giant Center at 7:45.
“We played great tonight,” said Berks Player of the Year Ruben Rodriguez, who had 20 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals. “This is game is a great way to go into the Giant Center on Thursday.
“We have so much chemistry. We don’t care who gets the credit. We share the ball, make the extra pass, and every one of us lays it all out on the defensive end.”
Cumberland Valley advanced with a 46-35 win over third-seeded Hempfield.
The Red Knights used a series of dominating spurts to dismantle fifth-seeded Waynesboro (21-5).
Both teams came out hot early, and Reading held a 13-9 lead at the 3:00 mark of the first quarter. Then came the first spurt. Myles Grey buried a 3-pointer to make it 16 – 9. Rodriguez took a charge and buried a 3 to give the Red Knights a 19-9 lead. Yadiel Cruz hit a layup to close out an 8-2 run to end the quarter.
The Indians did not fold. They played much better defensively in the second quarter and pulled within 25-20 with 1:30 left in the half.
Then came spurt No. 2 for Reading. Rodriguez rebounded a missed Waynesboro free throw, went coast to coast and threw a beautiful pass to Cruz, who hit the layup and got fouled for a three-point play.
On the next possession Rodriguez stole the ball and went coast to coast for a layup to extend the lead to 30-20. Grey followed with a steal of his own for another layup. The Red Knights tenuous 25-20 lead was extended to 32-20 at the half.
Reading forced Waynesboro into 12 first-half turnovers with fullcourt pressure. Red Knights coach Rick Perez made a tactical decision that paid big dividends in the decisive third quarter.
“The officials were calling the game tightly,” said Perez. “They were consistent, but it was tight. So we decided in the second half to back our pressure up to half court rather than fullcourt. We liked the turnovers we were getting but wanted to cut back on the fouling.”
Reading forced nine third-quarter turnovers with their halfcourt trapping and double-teaming, which sparked a 14-0 run, essentially putting the game away.
A key to the Reading run was Amier Burdine, who had five steals and two assists, and Cruz, who scored six of his 11 points during the run.
“We knew coming in that we would have to play good defense on No. 33 (Jaylon Bean) and No. 23 (Ryan Shaffer), especially,” said Burdine. “We had to limit their touches and provide help and pressure them into mistakes.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Waynesboro | 11 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 31 |
| Reading High | 21 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 55 |
| Indians (21-5) | FG | FT | PTs |
| Young | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hough | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Shaffer | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Shaull | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| Bean | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| Parks | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mclyer | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 12 | 4 | 31 |
| Red Knights (26-1) | FG | FT | PTs |
| R. Rodriguez | 9 | 0 | 20 |
| A Rodriguez | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Grey | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| Burdine | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ortega | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Cruz | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| Chapman | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sosa | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osumanu | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burgess | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Samuel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21 | 9 | 55 |
