Saints remain unbeaten as they ‘do it for Kingston’
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(Updated with medical diagnosis.)
Josh McKoy saw his younger brother take a hard fall and end up on the floor, writhing in pain, but he and his Berks Catholic teammates didn’t have time Tuesday night to think about Kingston’s pain, or his fate.
They had a basketball game to win, a perfect season to keep alive and a double-digit deficit to erase – against Reading High, no less.
“I knew it was bad,” Josh said after seeing Kingston’s left leg give out as he was on his way to the basket for an open layup. “I knew he was hurt because I’ve never seen him (in pain) like that before.”
“It was tough,” said Saints senior guard Armanni Dominguez. “Emotions were everywhere.”
The Saints managed to stay focused, mounted an incredible comeback, then took the lead for good when Josh McKoy took Reading’s Malik Osumanu to the basket and scored with six seconds left.
The Red Knights had a couple of shots in the final seconds but when Jeremiah Camara’s corner jumper glanced off the rim the Saints and their fans celebrated on the court after a thrilling 61-59 Berks Conference crossover victory at jam-packed Wolf Gymnasium.
“I don’t know how but we did it,” said jubilant Berks Catholic coach Snip Esterly, who whooped it up with his players on the court after the final buzzer, showing just how big a win this was.
Esterly was much more solemn a few hours later after he and his players visited Kingston McKoy at Reading Hospital. Esterly declined comment about the nature of the injury late Tuesday out of respect for McKoy and his family.
Early Wednesday, Esterly informed MikeDragoSports.com via text that McKoy was scheduled for surgery on a broken tibia. The tibia is the larger of the two bones in the lower leg; recovery time could be months, meaning the league’s top player won’t play again this season.
That news no doubt will put a damper on the celebration of the Saints’ comeback from a 14-point deficit over team that had beaten them seven straight times.
Berks Catholic (8-0 Berks II, 14-0) is the lone unbeaten team in District 3 and was a favorite for both county and district championships. Without Kingston McKoy they’ll be hard-pressed to win much more than the Division II title, if that.
“It’s definitely gonna be a big adjustment,” Dominguez said of playing without the 6-2 sophomore, who was averaging 15.7 points, is the Saints’ best defender and ballhandler and their de facto leader. “He made everything a lot easier for us. We’ve just gotta stay together and hopefully find a way through. It’s gonna be tough, though.”
It was no picnic Tuesday even with Kingston on the floor. The Red Knights (4-3 Berks I, 10-7) came out playing fast and Yadiel Cruz came out smoking. The league scoring leader knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first 2 ½ minutes and had 11 first-quarter points, helping Reading to a 19-9 lead.
Cruz hit another 3-pointer to open the second quarter; when Nick Chapman knocked down a triple in transition Reading was up 34-20.
The Saints, with the 6-4 Josh McKoy on the bench with three fouls, couldn’t stop them.
“They were just taking it to us,” Esterly said.
The Reading lead was 47-37 when Kingston McKoy went out with 2:31 left in the third quarter, and Chapman stretched it 13 with a 3-pointer half a minute later.
Momentum began to shift in the final two minutes of the third quarter. Chapman, Reading’s defensive stopper, picked up his third foul. Cruz was shaken up when he went to the floor hard and was called for a charge. Osumanu, the Red Knights’ rim protector, picked up his third foul with a second left in the third quarter, trying to stop Josh McKoy, who converted the bucket and completed the three-point play to trim Reading’s lead to seven.
The Red Knights tried to run some clock early in the fourth but the move backfired. They lost momentum, turned it over a couple times and didn’t score for the first five minutes of the quarter.
The Saints snuck back in it as Parker Nein began to take control, scoring six straight points to open the quarter. They took their first lead when junior Zach Suski hit a pair of free throws with 2:34 left.
The Red Knights went ahead by three points three times in the final minutes but each time the Saints clawed back. Nein, who finished with five 3’s and a career-high 27 points, knocked down a corner jumper to tie it with 1:24 left.
Josh McKoy’s third 3 of the game tied it again at 59 with 48 seconds left.
On the next possession the Saints tied up Cruz inside, then knocked the ball loose. Dominguez dove on the floor to secure it, then called timeout. That set up Josh McKoy’s go-ahead basket.
“All of a sudden Parker hits a few, Josh goes crazy,” Esterly said. “I looked up at the scoreboard and said: Holy crap! We just got back in it.”
Nein scored 11 fourth-quarter points, fearlessly putting up shots. He also took over defensive duties on Cruz, who didn’t score in the final quarter after putting up 25 through three.
Josh McKoy took over his brother’s ballhandling duties and calmy made the game-tying and game-winning shots in the final minute.
“I had to put it aside,” he said of his brother’s injury. “I had to do what I had to do.”
As they broke the huddle following each timeout in the final minutes the Saints had one thought in mind: Do it for Kingston.
“To see him go down was hard,” said Suski, who came off the bench to grab six rebounds. “We put it behind us and kept playing.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Reading High | 19 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 59 |
| Berks Catholic | 9 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 61 |
| Red Knights (10-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Cruz | 9-12 | 3-4 | 4-5 | 2 | 14 | 25 |
| Camara | 4-7 | 0-2 | 2-4 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Chapman | 7-13 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 2 | 1 | 18 |
| Rosario | 1-5 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Osumanu | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Sosa | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Beatty | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burgess | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mercedes | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-46 | 8-12 | 7-17 | 8 | 27/30 | 59 |
| Saint (14-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Dominguez | 3-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Nein | 10-20 | 2-2 | 5-12 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
| K. McKoy | 2-8 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| J. McKoy | 6-10 | 3-5 | 3-4 | 1 | 7 | 18 |
| Altimar | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Komoro | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suski | 0-4 | 2-4 | 0-3 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Totals | 22-50 | 8-13 | 9-24 | 4 | 24/27 | 61 |
Turnovers: Reading High 13, Berks Catholic 9. Team rebounds: Reading High 3, Berks Catholic 3.
