Red Knights know, ‘Amier’s got this,’ and he does as they hold off Saints once again

Amier Burdine has played with and against Josiah Jordan since the two weren’t much bigger than the basketballs they dribbled during their early KTB youth days.

He knows all of Jay-Jay’s moves: The zigs, the zags, the spins, the ankle-breaking cuts.

Jordan is a senior and four-year starter for Berks Catholic. He’s an All-State defensive back and 1,000-yard rusher. He’s a 1,000-point scorer and a nightmare to defend.

“He’s the most athletic (player) I’ve gone against,” said Burdine, Reading High’s defensive stopper. “He’s faster than everybody. It’s always been a battle guarding him.”

Safe to say Burdine won that battle Tuesday night as the two division leaders clashed at the Geigle. He frustrated Jordan in the early minutes, helped force several turnovers and held him to two first-half points, a key reason the Red Knights were able to build a big early lead that carried them to a 63-59 Berks Conference crossover victory.

The Berks I-leading Red Knights (8-0, 18-1) saw their 13-point, fourth-quarter lead disappear in a hurry at the end.

The Berks II-leading Saints (7-2, 15-2) began intentionally fouling in the final 90 seconds to stop the clock and put the Red Knights on the line, and the tactic worked: Reading missed five straight free throws in the final 50 seconds and didn’t score a field goal over the final three minutes.

Jordan’s putback with 18 seconds left cut Reading’s lead to 63-58. Reading’s Myles Grey, a 78-percent shooter, missed at the line with 14 seconds left. Berks Catholic’s Josh McKoy was fouled on a rebound with 7.3 seconds left and made the first to cut it to 63-59. The Saints’ got the ball back after he missed the second but Jack Miller’s rushed 3-point attempt was off the mark.

The Saints never had the ball and a chance to tie it or take the lead in the second half but showed they’re the Red Knights’ biggest threat to a second straight Berks Conference title.

The four-point margin of victory was Reading’s smallest in league play, but not its first close call: It beat both Exeter and Wilson by five points and trailed in those games, as well.

The Saints started fast, leading 5-0 and 11-6. They came back to tie it three times in the second quarter, in large part because of a huge effort from McKoy, who hit each of his six shots and had 12 points in the first 12 1/2 minutes.

When he picked up his second and third fouls in the span of 30 seconds midway through the second quarter momentum shifted to Reading. With McKoy on the bench the Red Knights went on a 16-2 closing run to build a 15-point halftime lead.

Reading coach Rick Perez wasn’t bothered by seeing McKoy finish with a game- and season-high 20 points (on 9-of-10 shooting). His primary focus was to disrupt Jordan, which Burdine and the Red Knights did.

“I’m okay with McKoy scoring,” Perez said. “That’s not the way Berks Catholic wins. The way they win is when (Ryan) Koch and Jordan (score). Those are the guys you’ve gotta take out of their rhythm.”

Koch was held to nine points, nearly six off his average, on 3-of-12 shooting.

The Red Knights were especially good at throwing Jordan off his game. They caught him on a couple early traps to force turnovers.

“We wanted to get the ball out of his hands,” Burdine said. “If you take him away, it forces a freshman (Kingston McKoy) to handle the pressure. I felt we did good doing that.”

In the halfcourt set the Red Knights concentrated on stopping Jordan’s backbreaking penetration by closing off his lanes to the basket; they did that well, too. He had trouble getting to the spots he liked, was 1-for-6 from the floor in the first half and 5-of-14 overall. He finished with 13 points; each and every one was hard to come by.

“You’ve really gotta close down Josian’s gaps,” Perez said. “Any time he sees lanes (to drive through), it’s over. So we had to shut off his driving lanes.”

“We know he’s aggressive getting downhill,” Burdine said, “so we had to cut him off at the free throw line and force him to make passes.”

That’s easier said than done; the 6-2 Burdine is one of the few players who can make that strategy work. He’s been shutting down top scorers from the Philadelphia Catholic League, the Mid-Penn Conference and the Lehigh Valley since breaking into the rotation as a sophomore.

His contributions don’t show up in the box score but they show up in the standings and they show up in the trophy case: Reading is 70-7 over his three seasons, with a PIAA championship and two district titles.

Defense wins championship and Burdine’s all about that. He’s an all-league defensive back and earlier Tuesday announced his decision to accept an offer to play at Sacred Heart, a Division I FCS school which plays in the Northeast Conference.

“Theres’ not many people who lock down (Jordan) on their own,” Perez said. “Amier really knows his timing. He really understands (his) rhythm. He knows he’s coming back to the spin move. Amier was there every time.”

When Perez hands out the defensive assignments before each game no one is surprised when Burdine draws the top gun. Afterward, no one is surprised to see him come through.

“You just know,” Perez said, “Amier’s got it.”

	1	2	3	4	Final
Berks Catholic	11	13	19	16	59
Reading High	12	27	12	12	63

Saints (15-2 )	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Geddio	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Jordan	5-14	3-8	0-0	5	6	13
Koch	3-12	0-0	3-9	1	6	9
Miller	3-10	0-0	2-9	1	1	8
J. McKoy	9-10	1-2	1-2	0	6	20
K. McKoy	4-9	0-0	1-2	2	8	9
Nein	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Lawlor	0-3	0-0	0-0	0	2	0
Totals	24-58	4-10	7-22	9	30-32	59

Red Knights (18-1 )	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Burdine	3-6	2-4	0-0	0	5	8
R. Rodriguez	7-16	0-0	0-2	2	5	14
Grey	5-14	3-6	0-4	2	3	13
A. Rodriguez	5-11	1-2	2-6	0	5	13
Osumanu	2-5	0-0	0-0	1	5	4
Cruz	4-5	0-1	1-1	0	13	9
Chapman	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Rosario	1-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	0
Totals	27-58	6-13	3-13	6	36-39	63

Turnovers: Berks Catjholic 12, Reading High 12.