Ruben Rodriguez drops 42 on Chambersburg; Red Knights advance

(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details, postgame reaction.)

Ruben Rodriguez matched a program record for points in a postseason game and passed by three Reading High legends in leading the top-seeded Red Knights to a 69-58 victory over Chambersburg Friday in a District 3 Class 6A quarterfinal at the Geigle.

The two-time All-State pick scored 42 points, tied for fourth-most in program history and tied for the most ever in a playoff game.

The senior guard has scored 1,592 points for Reading, second-most in program history. He passed Stu Jackson (1,563), Dick Nyquist (1,576) and Donyell Marshall (1,581) on the Red Knight’s all-time scoring list. Only Lonnie Walker IV (1,828) has scored more as a Red Knight.

Reading High (25-1) advances to meet fifth-seeded Waynesboro, a 60-45 winner Friday over No. 4 York High. They’ll play a district semifinal Monday at 7 at Geigle Complex in what could be the final home game for Rodriguez, Myles Grey, Aris Rodriguez and Reading’s other seniors.

The victory clinched Reading’s ninth straight trip to the PIAA Tournament, the longest streak in program history.

Rodriguez started out on fire, hitting each of his seven shots in the first quarter, including a pair of 3’s; he finished it with 17 points.

The Rider recruit scored 10 points in the second quarter, five in the third and 10 in the fourth. He was good on 14-of-19 shots from the field and 11-of-14 from the free throw line. He made 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

It was the seventh time this season Rodriguez has had 30 or more points.

The Red Knights needed every one of them as the eighth-seeded Trojans (14-10) refused to go down quietly.

They rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second quarter to tie it at 34-34.

They trailed by nine again in the third quarter only to pull within 56-55 with 4:00 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Jacob Bassham.

Grey answered with a 3-pointer, starting a 13-3 run to the wire for the Red Knights.

Aris Rodriguez finished with 10 points for Reading. Bassham led Chambersburg with 19 points.

Rodriguez set the program record with 50 points last season in a regular season game against Daniel Boone.

Only three other Reading players have topped 40 points in a game: Brian D’Amico, who had 42 in a 1986 district playoff game against Wilson; Marshall, who scored 43 against Williamsport in 1991; and Buck Friedman, who scored 48 against Tamaqua in the 1918-19 season.

Rodriguez moved up to No. 9 on the all-time Berks scoring list, with 1,880 points. He passed Conrad Weiser’s Greg Brizek (1,853). Rodriguez scored 288 points as a freshman at Muhlenberg; those don’t count toward his Reading total.

Rodriguez has had 11 games of 30 or more points at Reading, more than anyone else; Marshall, who went on to play in the NBA, had eight.

Rodriguez’s season-high scoring total boosted his scoring average to 22.6, now tops in the Berks Conference. Fleetwood’s Jake Karnish had the lead at 22.0. Rodriguez won the Berks scoring title last season at 19.8.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Chambersburg	17	18	9	14	58
Reading High	22	16	14	17	69

Trojans (14-10)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Bassham	7-15	3-7	2-7	2	2	19
Fogal	0-3	1-2	0-3	1	0	1
Kelly	3-8	2-3	0-1	0	7	8
Swatsburg	1-2	1-2	0-1	1	1	3
Vessah	4-9	0-1	2-4	2	8	10
Jones	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	2	0
Losius	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Cornwell	3-5	0-0	2-4	0	1	8
Sarvis	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	0	3
Brewer	3-5	0-0	0-1	1	2	6
Snyder	0-2	0-0	0-1	1	0	0
Totals	22-51	7-15	7-23	9	23-27	58

Red Knights (25-1)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Burdine	0-2	2-2	0-0	0	0	2
R. Rodriguez	14-19	11-14	3-5	0	5	42
Grey	1-5	2-2	1-2	5	5	5
A Rodriguez	4-12	2-2	0-2	1	4	10
Ortega	1-2	2-2	0-0	0	6	4
Cruz	0-0	2-2	0-0	0	4	2
Osumanu	2-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	4
Chapman	0-1	0-0	0-0	2	3	0
Totals	22-43	21-24	4-9	8	28-31	69

Turnovers: Chambersburg 17, Reading High 15.