Red Knights hoping to turn ‘horror story’ into another thriller (updated)
Some of Daniel Alcantara’s Reading High teammates were in tears Friday night when he was taken to the hospital for x-rays after a hard fall following a dunk that left him with an injured left hand and lower back.
His basketball season remains in doubt after he broke a bone in that hand. So does the fate of the Red Knights’ season. With the 6-5 All-State pick in the lineup they were considered a top contender for another state title.
Without him?
The top-seeded Red Knights will find out how effective they can be without their leading rebounder, No. 2 scorer and tallest starter when they meet No. 5 Cedar Cliff — perhaps the longest team they’ve faced this season — in a District 3 Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at the Geigle at 7.
“This is a horror story,” said Red Knights coach Rick Perez. “Senior year . . . district tournament. He’s starting to pick up some steam and — boom!”
Alcantara, a third-team All-State pick following the Red Knights’ PIAA championship run in 2021, has experienced an up-and-down season.
He scored a game-high 27 points in a season-opening win over Philly powerhouse Imhotep Charter, then was suspended and lost his starting spot for about a month.
He returned in time to help the Red Knights clinch the Berks Conference Division 1 title.
He scored his 1,000th career point in a playoff win over Wyomissing, was named to the All-Berks team after Reading’s county championship and has been playing his best ball of the season in recent weeks.
Now it’s possible he won’t play again this season.
Perez said Alcantara has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game and that there is no “immediate need” for surgery; his long-term status is uncertain. A family member confirmed Monday morning that Alcantara will be examined by a hand specialist Tuesday afternoon.
Perez’s immediate concern is over Alcantara’s future, not the impact his loss will have on the team.
“I have nothing but love and respect for the courage Dan has displayed,” Perez said following a 68-45 win over Wilson Friday, when Alcantara was hurt.
“He continues to lay his body on the line for Reading High basketball, and I hope people in this community really understand that.”
Perez repeated those sentiments early Monday.
“I don’t care about basketball,” Perez said. “I’m not worried about our team’s status. Of course I want Daniel to play with us.
“When it comes to basketball, I’m not concerned. When it comes to Daniel, and the emotional well-being of everybody, that I am concerned with.”
Perez said that Alcantara was at practice Sunday morning and that both he and his teammates were in a better frame of mind than immediately after Friday’s game. He said the team attended church services together, did a yoga session and shared wings for lunch.
“We took full advantage of the day to heal together,” he said.
As for the basketball part, and the tournament at hand, Perez said he has complete faith in his players, even with one of their best players sidelined.
The Red Knights are one win away from reaching their fifth consecutive district final and two wins away from repeating as District 3 champs for the first time in 45 years. They won the 1976 and 1977 District 3 Class AAA titles.
“This is added incentive,” Perez said of playing without Alcantara. “You’re gonna have to kill us to take it. When it comes to intensity or passion, there’s nobody who can match us. We’ll be a bit undersized, and we’ll replace that with our physical strength. We don’t need an overhaul for our team. We’ve played without him before.”
The Red Knights were relatively small to begin with. After Alcantara the tallest player in their regular rotation is 6-2 senior center Xavier Davis.
That lack of size will be magnified against a Colts team led by 6-9 senior Tyler House, a VMI recruit who scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked five shots in a 55-54 win over Muhlenberg in the quarterfinals. He is complemented by his 6-10 sophomore brother Justin and 6-5 senior forward Mike Armanini.
To compensate the Red Knights will have to dominate the game across the entire court, attacking with fullcourt pressure to prevent the Colts from getting the ball into the halfcourt. They were successful doing that against Wilson, forcing a staggering 21 first-half turnovers. That has been their strength all season.
The Mid-Penn Keystone champion Colts have senior guards in Trent Smith and Charlie Werner; they’ll be under fire the whole way.
“(Tyler Houser) is a phenomenal talent,” Perez said. “He’s the smartest guy on the floor. We’ve gotta get him moving a little bit.”
Malik Osumanu, a 6-4 sophomore and the younger brother of Moro Osumanu, could see more time in this game. He is not part of Perez’s usual eight-man rotation but everyone will move up with Alcantara out. Senior Joey Chapman is expected to move into the starting lineup to replace him.
“Any time we’ve called on him, he’s always affected the game,” Perez said of Osumanu. “His efficiency rate when he steps in the game is unreal. He stepped into the Muhlenberg game, got two blocked shots, an assists and a basket. There’s a lot of benefit to being long.”