Red Knights steal the show, and the win, from Mikey Williams
Even at $18 and $22 a pop, tickets to the Mikey Williams Show were worth it for Reading basketball fans.
They got to see the national sensation in person, launching NBA-range 3-pointers, getting frustrated at being guarded hard and then, with the game on the line, clanking a free throw that let the Red Knights off the hook.
Thousands clamored to see him, pulled out their cameras to catch every move, then lustily booed him when he received the Vertical Academy MVP award Friday at the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic at Santander Arena.
They were smiling, though, because their Red Knights won, 71-66 and in thrilling fashion.
The Knights trailed by three in the final minute but came up with the kind of plays champions do, with a steal, some clutch free throw shooting and a defensive stop on Williams, who got tangled up trying to get lined up for a potential tying 3-pointer.
He never got the shot off and ended up on his butt on the court, watching in disgust as the Red Knights and more than 4,000 fans celebrated their 14th and most impressive victory of the season.
The Red Knights stared down a national All-Star team and beat them by playing the same kind of hard-nosed team ball that took them to a state championship 10 months ago.
“It just shows that five’s more than one, or two,” said Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez, who made all sorts of big plays, including a steal and layup that saw him reach 1,000 career points midway through his junior season.
“We all played, and we all did our jobs,” Rodriguez continued amid the postgame bedlam, “whether it was scoring or playing defense or rebounding, or just simple stuff like cheering on the bench. We knew we all were gonna play a big role and we weren’t gonna win without all of us.”
It was a classic match-up, just like last year’s PIAA Class 6A championship game against Archbishop Wood: A talented group of players from all over thrown together against a bunch of guys from Reading who’ve grown up hooping.
Guys such as Myles Grey and Amier Burdine and Joey Chapman aren’t fazed one iota by the fact that Williams has a couple million followers on Instagram and a couple millions bucks in the bank via an unprecedented endorsement deal. They still got in his face, distracted him to no end and out-worked him.
At one hot moment the refs had to separate Williams and Burdine when the Vertical star got frustrated by the clamps Reading’s defensive wizard was placing on him.
That was part of the game plan.
“We know he’s kind of a hot head,” Rodriguez chuckled with delight.
At one point Chapman wrestled with Williams for a rebound and won the daily double. Williams fouled him, then got teed up. They were his third and fourth fouls and he took a seat on the bench for the final 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.
The 6-3 Williams is talented, no doubt. He can stroke it from distance . . . he’s just not all that selective. If he’s open 25 or 30 feet from the basket, that looks like a shot to him and he takes it. He made three Friday from well beyond the arc . . . and missed seven others.
He scored 18 points and even had a couple assists — a rare commodity for this Vertical team. They can run and dunk and have big guys, such as 6-9 Khouri Carvey, who can be dominant, but they don’t play together one lick.
That’ll work against most teams but not against a Reading team capable of exposing and exploiting such weaknesses. The Red Knights D-up, they hit the floor for loose balls, they hustle and they play together. That’s not breaking news but it was refreshing to see against the collection of players Vertical Academy is currently trotting around the country.
“We didn’t get into the hype or none of that,” Chapman said. “All we did was focus on ourselves and what we had to do. We’ll always play our style of basketball, no matter who we play, if they’re from here, if they’re from out there, we’re gonna play the way we play, and we’re gonna have fun, that’s what it’s all about.”
Rodriguez gave the Red Knights (14-2) the lead for good at 67-66 with 14 seconds left when Grey worked over his man at midcourt, dove for a steal and popped the ball loose. He chucked it ahead to Rodriguez, who laid it in.
Chapman, who always manages to keep things exciting, fouled Williams with 7.7 seconds left. The Puma poster boy had a one-and-one that could’ve given his team the lead. When he missed the front end he drew a standing ovation from the pro-Reading crowd.
Chapman found his way to the foul line a couple seconds later for two shots. He banked home the first, then swished the second for a three-point lead.
Williams had one last chance with about three seconds left but never got a shot off; he ended his night in Reading with 18 points and a scowl on his face.
Rodriguez closed out the scoring with two more free throws; he finished with 22 points on the night and 1,006 in his career.
When it was over the crowd erupted, the Red Knights celebrated on the court and one of the Vertical coaches said mockingly: “They think they won the Super Bowl.”
It sounded like that outside the arena where exiting fans were shouting and honking their car horns.
“We just let our fans do what they do best, and that’s just bring intensity,” Rodriguez said. “We gave them a show.”
These photos and others from the game can be purchased by clicking here:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Vertical Academy | 20 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 66 |
| Reading High | 20 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 71 |
| Vertical Academy | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Hall | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
| Parker | 5-13 | 2-2 | 2-7 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Williams | 7-15 | 1-3 | 3-10 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| Carvey | 5-8 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Beyah | 3-10 | 1-1 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Hamrick | 4-10 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Strickland | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27-62 | 6-9 | 6-21 | 5 | 32/33 | 66 |
| Reading High | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| R.Rodriguez | 9-17 | 4-6 | 0-2 | 1 | 6 | 22 |
| Grey | 3-7 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Davis | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Alcantara | 5-14 | 3-4 | 1-7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Chapman | 4-9 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Walker | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| A. Rodriugez | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Totals | 27-58 | 14-20 | 4-15 | 10 | 33/36 | 71 |
Turnovers: Vertical Academy 16, Reading High 17.
