Reading High’s night is doubly grand: A milestone and return trip to Giant Center
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
COATESVILLE — Spring-Ford coach Joe Dempsey found out Tuesday what two dozen other coaches found out this season: Reading High’s great at any pace.
Fast, slow, sprint, crawl: The Red Knights come out on top no matter what.
They showed that again in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal, playing at the Rams’ sloggish pace for a less-than-thrilling yet very rewarding — and historic — 55-32 victory at Coatesville High School.
The pace slowed All-State guard Ruben Rodriguez for a half, but he scored 18 second-half points to reach the 2,000-point career milestone with 1:53 remaining.
The District 3 champs return to Giant Center Saturday at 8 to play Roman Catholic, a 66-56 winner over Archbishop Wood in the other semifinal. They Red Knights are looking for their third state championship in seven years and second in three seasons.
The Red Knights (31-1) sprinted to a 13-0 lead in the first six minutes, draining the drama out of this one in a hurry. They led by at least seven points the rest of the way, Reading has barely been challenged during the state tournament, winning its four games games by an average of 26 points.
Reading’s 31 wins its most since 1991, when Mike Miller’s team, led by All-American Donyell Marshall, finished 31-2. The program record for wins is 32, set in 1983 by Rick Binder’s team, which fiished 32-2.
The District 1 runner-up Rams (28-4) scored just three points in the first quarter and didn’t hit their first field goal for nearly 9 1/2 minutes. Spring-Ford’s previous low scoring total this season came in a 42-40 win at Wilson on Jan. 17.
Rodriguez finished with a game-high 20 points. Aris Rodriguez had 12. Jacob Nguyen, Spring-Ford’s leading scorer, finished with six points and was 0-for-6 from 3-point range. He had 89 3’s coming into the game.
The Red Knights opened like gangbusters, scoring on their first three possessions and building a 13-0 lead with less than two minutes to go in the opening period. The Rams hit a couple of free throws late in the quarter to pull within 13-3.
Reading stretched its lead to 15 when Aris Rodriguez, who scored 10 first-half points, scored in transition to make it 20-5 four minutes into the second quarter. Reading went into halftime leading 22-13.
Ruben Rodriguez and backcourt mate Myles Grey were sophomore starters on the team that upset nationally ranked Archbishop Wood for the 2021 championship. Senior classmate Amier Burdine was a key reserve on that squad; Aris Rodriguez, now sharing the starting lineup with the other three, was there, too.
This is as experienced, a successful group as the Red Knights have ever had. They’ve gone 83-7 over the past three seasons, with three straight District 3 championships and an 8-1 record in PIAA Tournament play.
They’ve torn through the state tournament like never before, winning by 31, 25 and 24 points in the first three rounds. The bright lights of the biggest tournament in the state has done nothing but illuminate their dominance.
“We have a lot of experience,” Ruben Rodriguez said. “That comes to show. We understand we’re in the moment. This is what we’ve been waiting for. We understand where we’re at. We know that we have to come out and give everything we have because (each game) could be our last.”
This was Spring-Ford’s first appearance in a state semifinal, and it came as a bit of a surprise. The Rams finished 13-9 last year and missed the postseason in their first season under former LaSalle High School coach Joe Dempsey. Teams don’t generally double their win total from one season to the next or win instantly their first time in the postseason.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Spring-Ford | 3 | 10 | 4 | 15 | 32 |
| Reading High | 13 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 55 |
| Rams (28-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Campbell | 5-17 | 6-8 | 1-8 | 2 | 6 | 17 |
| Nguyen | 2-12 | 2-2 | 0-5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Zollers | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Little | 0-1 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Kelly | 0-1 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Lewis | 2-6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| McKenna | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Medearis | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grosshanten | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 9-39 | 13-19 | 1-15 | 4 | 19-19 | 32 |
| Red Knights (31-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 1-2 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Cruz | 2-4 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| R. Rodriguez | 5-11 | 9-10 | 1-3 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| Grey | 2-8 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| A Rodriguez | 3-5 | 4-6 | 2-3 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Osumanu | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Chapman | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Ortega | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Sosa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Burgess | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Samuel | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 16-35 | 19-28 | 4-11 | 7 | 27-32 | 55 |
Turnovers: Spring-Ford 13, Reading High 10.Fouled out: Little.
