Red Knights pull away from Saints, clinch Berks I title
No one in the Berks Conference has been able to give defending PIAA champ Reading High much of a game this season.
Berks Catholic did Monday night, at least for a while. The Saints had the lead early in the third quarter and stayed close into the fourth before Ruben Rodriguez and the Red Knights pulled away for an 87-70 win at Wolf Gymnasium.
The win clinches the Berks Conference Division I title for the Red Knights (9-0, 17-2), their second straight and 30th overall since joining the league for the 1979-80 season.
The Saints (7-3, 15-3) can still finish tied for first but Reading High holds the first tiebreaker, by virtue of two head-to-head wins over Berks Catholic. It won the first game 67-51 at the Geigle Jan. 3.
Unlike that game the Saints were able to put the ball in the basket against the Red Knights. Ryan Koch had 22 points and hit five 3-pointers. Josiah Jordan scored 20 points. The Saints knocked down a dozen 3-pointers, including one by Aidan Sands that gave them a 43-42 lead with 6:50 left in the third period.
The problem for Berks Catholic was trying to slow down the Red Knights, especially Rodriguez. They couldn’t.
Rodriguez, a first-team All-State pick as a sophomore, finished with a game-high 35 points, 25 in the second half. He opened the third quarter by scoring Reading’s first five baskets.
The junior guard was good on 16-of-25 shots from the floor. He took just one 3-pointer and had just three free throws. He also had seven assists and four steals.
It was Rodriguez’s second 35-point performance this season. He also hit that number in a win at Harrisburg Jan. 10. He set the program record with a 50-point scoring spree against Daniel Boone Jan. 19.
The 87 points were significant. It’s the most scored against Berks Catholic in its 11-year history. Only twice before had the Saints allowed 80 or more: in an 85-57 loss to Audenreid in a 2017 PIAA Tournament game and in an 82-56 loss to Muhlenberg last season.
Daniel Alcantara, who didn’t play in the first meeting against Berks Catholic, scored 24 points for Reading. He also had a team-high 10 rebounds and six steals. Xavier Davis had a career-high 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting for Reading.
The Red Knights shot 54 percent from the floor (37-of-69).
The Saints came from 10 points down in the second quarter to take a 32-30 lead just before halftime on a pair of Koch free throws.
They were tied as late as 2 1/2 minutes into the third quarter, when Jordan hit a 3-pointer to make it 46-46. A basket by Davis gave Reading the league for good.
The Saints stayed close by hitting 12-of-26 3’s; in the first meeting they made just 6-of-19, and several of those came in the fourth quarter with the game well out of hand.
The loss snapped Berks Catholic’s seven-game winning streak. Its previous loss came at Wilson, 51-48. Two of its three losses have come against Reading High.
In its six games against Berks I opponents the Red Knights are averaging a 20.5 margin-of-victory. They beat Wilson by 28 and Exeter by 26.
The Red Knights have three league games remaining: Thursday against Gov. Mifflin, Feb. 8 at Berks II champ Muhlenberg and Feb. 9 against Wilson.
Last season Reading High and Wilson tied for the Berks I title; the Red Knights were awarded the No. 1 seed in the Berks Conference playoffs by virtue of a higher power rating.