Record-breaker a Knight to remember for Rick Perez, Reading High
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
The journey to win No. 252 was long and arduous for Rick Perez.
We’re not talking about the past 11 seasons, we’re talking about Friday night when his Reading High team found itself down 19 points to Cardinal O’Hara.
It looked for a long while that Perez’s pursuit of the Red Knights’ all-time wins record would have to wait for another night but Myles Grey had other ideas.
Grey sparked a stirring comeback, scoring team-high 20 points and walking away with the Hoop Group MVP honors as the Red Knights pulled out a thrilling 68-65 victory at the Geigle.
The win was the 252nd of Perez’s 12-year career, one more than the legendary Jim Gano.
It was in grave jeopardy when the Red Knights (3-0) trailed by 16 points a minute into the second half. It looked bad a few minutes later when All-State guard Ruben Rodriguez went to the bench with his fourth foul amd more than 11 minutes to play.
Grey, a savvy senior guard, picked it up a notch at that point, hit a pair of 3-pointers to close the third period, then made one of the pivotal plays of the game, grabbing a rebounding and firing an outlet to Aris Rodriugez, who scored in transition to tie it with 6:17 left.
The lead jockeyed back and forth the rest of the way, Ruben Rodriguez giving Reading its biggest lead at 64-60 with a jumper with 2:37 remaining. The Rider recruit all-but clinched the game after being fouled with 2.9 second left, hitting both free throws for a 68-65 lead.
Grey scored 15 second-half points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, had three assists and made several key defensive plays down the stretch against the tiring Lions (2-1), who wore down against Reading’s game-long fullcourt pressure.
Amier Burdine, usually not an offensive force, came up big for the Red Knights with 13 points; he also had six offensive rebounds.
Aris Rodriguez, after being held scoreless in the first half, came back to score 11 in the second . Ruben Rodriguez finished with 19 points.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cardinal O’Hara | 23 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 65 |
| Reading High | 12 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 68 |
| Lions (2-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Pasha | 7-9 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Burton | 4-12 | 5-6 | 1-5 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| Coulanges | 2-13 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| McQuinn | 7-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 9 | 15 |
| Cervellero | 5-6 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Hobbs | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-48 | 11-16 | 4-14 | 9 | 30-36 | 65 |
| Red Knights (3-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 6-10 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Cruz | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| R. Rodriguez | 6-13 | 5-6 | 2-5 | 2 | 3 | 19 |
| Grey | 8-19 | 0-0 | 4-9 | 3 | 9 | 20 |
| A. Rodriugez | 4-13 | 2-3 | 1-4 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Osumanu | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Chapman | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Rosario | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sosa | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 26-68 | 9-14 | 7-23 | 7 | 28-32 | 68 |
Turnovers: O’Hara 18, Reading High 9.