Ruben Rodriguez drops 26 as Red Knights even the score against Clippers
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
All-State guard Ruben Rodriguez scored 18 second-half points as Reading High pulled away from Chester Wednesday night for a 71-57 non-league victory at Geigle Complex.
The win was the third straight for the Red Knights (7-0) in the century-old rivalry and evened the score in the series at 21-21. The teams first met during World War I in the 1917-18 season.
Rodriguez finished with a game-high 26 points and scored seven during a decisive 20-7 run midway through the final quarter that saw Reading push its lead to 21, at 68-47, with two minutes remaining.
Chester (3-3) never led and trailed for good after Rodriguez dropped a 3-pointer two minutes into the game for a 5-2 lead.
Junior Yadiel Cruz, in his first season in the program, scored a career-high 14 points, 11 in the final quarter. Myles Grey had 10 points and three assists and Nico Sosa came off the bench to contribute nine points.
The Red Knights led just 29-23 at the half but picked up their energy level in the third quarter, forced seven turnovers — several with their fullcourt trap — and built a double-digit lead.
Terrence Cobb scored a team-high 24 points for the Clippers, knocking down six 3-pointers.
Chester went 21-4 last season and won the District 1 Class 5A championship but saw two key players transfer to other top Philadelphia Catholic League programs before this season. Larenzo Jerkins is playing at Neumann-Goretti and Kevfin Rucker Jr. is playing at Bonner-Prendergast.
Chester is classified 6A again this season.
Chester needs four more wins to join Reading as the only Pennsylvania boys basketball programs with 2,000 victories.
Reading has won three in a row in the series for the first time in nearly 40 years, since taking three straight from 1980-83. The Red Knights have won the last four meetings at the Geigle.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Chester | 10 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 57 |
| Reading High | 15 | 14 | 17 | 25 | 71 |
| Clippers(3-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| White | 0-3 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Womack | 5-16 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| Cobb | 8-22 | 2-2 | 6-14 | 0 | 5 | 24 |
| Toy | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
| Williams | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
| Atkinson | 0-3 | 7-8 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Coleman | 1-3 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Thompson | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chambers | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 19-58 | 13-19 | 6-20 | 6 | 37-40 | 57 |
| Red Knights (7-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burdine | 0-2 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Cruz | 4-5 | 6-8 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 14 |
| R. Rodriguez | 8-18 | 7-10 | 3-6 | 3 | 6 | 26 |
| Grey | 5-13 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| A. Rodriguez | 3-6 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Osumanu | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Sosa | 4-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Samuels | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burgess | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Rosario | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Totals | 24-50 | 17-26 | 5-14 | 9 | 28-31 | 71 |
Turnovers: Chester 19, Reading High 12.
