Red Knights rise to the occasion, use late stops to thwart Bulldogs’ comeback bid
There are few things better in Berks County than watching Wilson and Reading High crash into one another on the basketball court.
A warm night and a cold beer at FirstEnergy Stadium. . . a stroll through Nolde Forest as the leaves turn golden . . . a visit to Christmas Village at the holidays. . . all great fun.
Red Knights vs. Bulldogs, packed house, first place on the line?
It doesn’t get much better than that.
“That’s what high school sports is about,” said Bulldogs coach Matt Coldren of a 44-39 Reading victory Thursday, one that saw the Red Knights win it with a string of defensive stops over the final minutes.
The Bulldogs (2-1, 8-2) had their chances. They used a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter to shave off most of Reading’s 11-point lead but never managed to pull even or take the lead.
The Red Knights (3-0, 11-1), playing like the playoff veterans they are, turned them back and picked them off, forcing four turnovers in the final 2 1/2 minutes, most of them out of their wicked 1-2-2 halfcourt trap.
Seniors Ruben Rodriguez and Myles Grey were starters on the Reading team that won a PIAA championship two years ago; Aris Rodriguez was part of that team, too. They’ve won the last two District 3 Class 6A titles. They’ve been there and they’ve done that, and that experience edge surfaced when it mattered most as they held Wilson scoreless for nearly five minutes.
The Bulldogs were within 39-37 for nearly 3 1/2 minutes but the Red Knights firmly held their ground. They spread the floor, worked the clock and then took the ball away — once on a 10-second violation because of their trap. Wilson got off just one shot over the final three minutes. One.
“We had a first-time point guard going against that,” Coldren said of sophomore Madyx Gruber. “He struggled a little bit; (senior guard) Cleveland (Harding) struggled a little bit.”
Reading won without making a field goal over the final 7 1/2 minutes. That says a lot.
Then again, so does the fact that the Bulldogs came so close with their best player, Cam Jones, still yet to suit up. He’s close to returning from a football injury — Coldren says he’ll play next week.
They could’ve used him Thursday, that’s for sure. Wilson turned it over 23 times and lacked a take-charge floor leader in those final minutes when a play or two could’ve changed things.
“We didn’t do a good job with turnovers, and finishing around the rim,” Coldren said, “and . . . we still had a chance to win. That’s the scary part. (We needed) just a little more calmness. It’ll be nice when we have Cam back.”
Coldren could’ve played Jones, an all-division pick as a junior, but he’s looking at the long game. He’s confident the Bulldogs will be playing the Red Knights deep into February and maybe into March, when the District 3 Tournament wraps up.
Right now the Bulldogs are playing as well as any team in the district — Reading is ranked No. 1 in the power ratings and hasn’t lost to a Pennsylvania team. With three first-time starters on the floor Wilson only figures to get better.
And the Red Knights? They figure to be better, too. They’re not at the top of their game right now. They’ve gotten into a nasty habit of playing poorly in the first quarter and falling behind. Tuesday against Berks I rival Exeter they trailed by eight points after the first quarter.
Thursday they made just 2-of-14 shots in the first quarter and scored five points. They never got it going offensively. They made just 2-of-15 shots from 3-point range and were held below 45 points for the first time since the 2020 season — in a 54-38 loss to Wilson.
Ruben Rodriguez, a 1,500-point scorer, was held to a season-low seven points on 3-of-11 shooting. Seamus Breslin, filling in for Jones, gets a large measure of credit for that. It’s been more than a year since Rodriguez — who dropped 50 in a game last season — finished in single digits.
“We defended,” Coldren said. “I thought we did a fantastic job.”
And yet the Red Knights escaped the “Dawg Pound” all alone in first place in Berks I.
“We’re finding ways to win — that’s what the season’s all about,” said Reading coach Rick Perez. “We have found a boatload of ways to win: We hit 3’s, we play defense, we rebounded, we made key hustle plays. There are so many different ways. This team has shown a lot of different (positive) characteristics the last couple of weeks.”
At the end it was Aris Rodriguez, who took a nasty fall early in the game, who stood tall. He hit both ends of a one-and-one with 33 seconds left for a 42-37 lead, then both ends of the bonus to close out the scoring with 9.1 seconds left.
An hour earlier it looked he was headed to the emergency ward.
The 6-5 senior soared above the rim and tried to throw down a miss. His putback missed and he lost his balance, slamming his head on the floor as he landed. He left the game briefly but showed no ill effects. He finished with a game-high 14 points.
During those early minutes, when each team scrapped furiously, it looked like there would be no survivors. But there were; both sides lived to fight another day — which they will.
“We came out and got challenged,” Perez said. “That’s what you expect. Berks basketball is like that right now. We’re just lucky that we got that many stops.”
Coldren, looking at the big picture, was pleased with the effort and pleased with the night, despite the outcome.
“That was a great atmosphere for the kids to play in,” he said of the SRO crowd. “It was a clean game, it was a hard-fought game. It was enjoyable. (I’m) looking forward to playing them again. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Reading High | 5 | 15 | 16 | 8 | 44 |
| Wilson | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 39 |
| Red Knights (11-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| R. Rodriguez | 3-11 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Grey | 4-13 | 4-7 | 1-4 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| Rodriguez | 5-13 | 4-5 | 0-5 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Osumanu | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Cruz | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| Sosa | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Totals | 16-49 | 10-16 | 2-15 | 6 | 25-28 | 44 |
| Bulldogs (8-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 0-3 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Harding | 3-10 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| Melograna | 4-7 | 1-2 | 2-4 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Odiale | 4-11 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 12 | 9 |
| Breslin | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hunsicker | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Pena | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| McFadden | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 14-37 | 8-12 | 3-8 | 7 | 27-32 | 39 |
Turnovers: Reading High 15, Wilson 23.
