Red Knights stand in way of Saints’ perfect season — and date with history
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Some tall hurdles remain in its path but Berks Catholic seems positioned for a rarity in high school basketball: A perfect regular season.
That feat hasn’t been accomplished by a Berks team in 14 seasons. No Berks Conference team has won the league championship with an unbeaten record in 16 years. The last time a Berks boys basketball team went undefeated all way through the district title tournament was 1996.
The Saints (13-0) are two-thirds of the way toward finishing the regular season with a perfect record but face a key challenge Tuesday when they meet surging Reading High at Wolf Gymnasium.
The Red Knights (10-6) have won three straight and are back at full strength again after Nick Chapman’s return following three weeks on the sideline because of an injury. The senior guard triggered Reading’s comeback in a 59-52 win over a strong Spring-Ford team Saturday.
The Saints, of course, are playing at a high level themselves. They’re winning games by an average of 18.4 points, have hit twice as many 3-pointers as their opponents and have knocked off some top teams: Cedar Crest, Allentown Central Catholic, Trinity and Octorara, as well as Berks I co-leaders Muhlenberg and Wilson and Berks II rival Exeter.
They’re the only undefeated team in District 3 and their power rating of .834 is the highest in the district, well ahead of Class 6A leader Cumberland Valley (.797) and Class 5A leader Hershey (.755).
Seniors Parker Nein (17.0) and Josh McKoy (15.8) and sophomore Kingston McKoy (15.7) have formed what could end up as the highest-scoring trio in Berks Catholic history. They’re combining for 48.5 points per game – higher than five Berks teams’ total.
A win over Reading would be a watershed for the Saints: They have lost seven straight in the series and haven’t beaten the Red Knights since 2018, when they did in the Berks championship game.
The Saints fell behind by 15 points at the half in last year’s meeting at the Geigle before closing the gap to four in the final seconds of a 63-59 loss.
The key parts of that Reading team, which went on to win a PIAA Class 6A championship, are gone: All-State guard Ruben Rodriguez is one of four graduated starters.
Then again the Saints graduated four starters from last year’s District 3 Class 4A championship and quickly have rebuilt around Josh McKoy, the lone returning starter, and Kingston McKoy, who essentially saw starter’s minutes for much of last season.
A win Tuesday will match the best start in Berks Catholic history; it opened the 2011-12 season with 14 straight wins.
Unbeaten regular seasons*
| Team | Record | Coach | Season |
| Central Catholic | 22-0 | Snip Esterly | 2009-10 |
| Reading High | 23-0 | Richard Reyes | 2007-08 |
| Central Catholic | 20-0 | Snip Esterly | 1995-96 |
| Reading High | 24-0 | Mike Miller | 1990-91 |
| Wilson | 22-0 | Reggie Weiss | 1986-87 |
| Kutztown | 22-0 | Art Luptowski | 1984-85 |
| Hamburg | 24-0 | Bill Colunio | 1982-83 |
| Exeter | 22-0 | Rod Hand | 1971-72 |
| Conrad Weiser | 22-0 | Wilson Hartranft | 1969-70 |
| Kutztown | 21-0 | Dennis DeTurk | 1966-67 |
| Reading High | 22-0 | Pete Carril | 1965-66 |
| Kutztown | 22-0 | John Silan | 1958-59 |
| Kutztown | 15-0 | Oscar Stein | 1943-44 |
| Kutztown | 19-0 | Evan Koons | 1942-43 |
If the Saints get past Reading Tuesday they’ll still have a couple of tough match-ups remaining: They’ll play Abington Heights Jan. 30 at Wolf Gymnasium and at Exeter Feb. 1. Berks Catholic has eight remaining regular season games on the schedule.
Abington Heights is 14-0 and believed to be one of just four unbeaten teams in the state, along with BC, Neumann-Goretti and Roman Catholic. The Comets returned four starters from a team that won the District 2 Class 5A championship last year but fell to Berks Catholic 62-52 at Clark’s Summit.
Berks Catholic defeated Exeter 72-64 earlier this month at Wolf Gymnasium but had to withstand a late charge that saw the Eagles make it a one-possession game after trailing by 20.
The last Berks team to complete a perfect regular season was Central Catholic, in 2010. That team – coincidence, or not – was coached by Snip Esterly, the Saints’ head coach.
It featured sophomore Donovon Jack – who went on to play at Penn State – two-time All-Berks pick Marcus Dawkins and 1,000-point scorer Marquis Marshall. The Cardinals won their first 23 games before falling to Reading in the Berks semifinals. They won 30 games before ending the season with a loss to Sewickley Academy in the PIAA Class A championship game.
Two years earlier the Red Knights became the first Berks team win its first 30 games, claiming league and district championships along the way. That team featured Jordan, Trenity Burdine, and Dawkins and included Francis Camara, Reading’s current head coach.
Only seven Berks teams (since 1940) have gone unbeaten through the Berks Conference championship game: Reading High, 2007-08; Central Catholic, 1995-96; Reading High, 1990-91; Wilson, 1986-87; Exeter, 1971-72; Conrad Weiser, 1969-70; and Kutztown, 1958-59.
Only two of them – Central Catholic and Kutztown – remained unbeaten through the district tournament. So did Pete Carril’s 1965-66 Reading High team, which played in the Central Penn League at the time.
John Silan’s 1958-59 Kutztown team is the only Berks team to win a state title with a perfect record.
The pressure will mount and the scrutiny will increase if the Saints get past the Red Knights Tuesday and continue to win.
“We’ve got a huge target on our backs,” acknowledged Kingston McKoy last week after a win over Wilson, “but we haven’t (won) nothing yet. We’re still looking to win some hardware. We’ve just got to keep coming on.”