Saints take Bulldogs’ best shots, remain unbeaten after taking battle of division leaders
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Berks Catholic’s lethal McKoy brothers threw back-to-back shots at Wilson Thursday night the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Rocky Balboa put Apollo Creed on the canvas late in their first bout.
On consecutive possessions senior Josh McKoy and his sophomore brother Kingston rode the lane and threw down monster dunks, giving their team an eight-point cushion early in the fourth quarter at West Lawn Thursday.
Unlike Creed, the Berks I-leading Bulldogs didn’t buckle.
They answered with some shots of their own, Madyx Gruber capping a six-point run with a high-arcing shot over Kingston’s outstretched arms and off the glass to make it a one-possession game with two minutes left.
Gruber, going against Kingston, the toughest defender in the Berks Conference, made near-impossible shots all night to keep the Bulldogs in it. They had their chances to tie it or take the lead on their next two possessions but nothing would fall and the unbeaten Saints escaped with a pulsating 44-40 crossover victory.
“They were playing really well coming down the stretch,” said Kingston McKoy, who saw the Bulldogs (5-2, 11-5) pull within 40-38 with 2:07 left, and then within 43-40 with 21 seconds left. “You could tell they really wanted to get the game back. We knew they were gonna fight, we had to come out and fight harder.”
The Berks II-leading Saints (7-0, 12-0) did. They regrouped after three straight turnovers in the final minutes – two on offensive fouls while in a spread set. They got a critical bucket with 35 seconds left when Kingston McKoy, working out of the top of the spread, found Parker Nein alone underneath for a 43-38 lead.
The bucket was a relief for Nein, who suffered through his worst shooting night of the season. He couldn’t find the range from behind the 3-point line, where he went 0-for-4. He finished with a season-low five points – more than a dozen below his team-leading average.
Wilson coach Matt Coldren knew he had to take one part of Berks Catholic high-scoring trio out of the game and focused on Nein, who has displayed NBA range with his 3-pointers this season.
“One of our goals was take one of the big three away, and we did,” Coldren said. “We thought with our match-ups that was the (best) one to take away, and I thought we did a good job.”
Berks Catholic’s offense runs at high efficiency became Kingston McKoy is able to break down defenses from the top, penetrate the lane, then either kick to open wing shooters or take it in himself. His best option is often Nein but that piece was missing from the arsenal Thursday and the Saints had to slug it out till the final bell.
“Parker wasn’t hitting today,” Kingston McKoy said. “Everybody’s gonna have those games. Some games you’re not gonna hit; I’ve had those games, too. All you’ve gotta do is make it back on ‘D’ and that’s what we ended up doing.”
Indeed, the Saints’ strength remains their defense and they showed that in the second half when they limited the Bulldogs to 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Wilson’s 40-point output was its second-lowest of the season.
After the last of Gruber’s team-high 15 points made it a two-point game the Saints didn’t give up another bucket. On each of their next two possessions the Bulldogs had multiple looks at the basket but ended up missing their final six shots.
“We missed a couple good looks (at the end), and that happens,” Coldren said. “They just didn’t fall.”
Gruber’s 3-pointer sent Wilson to early 9-3 lead. Berks Catholic closed the first quarter on a rush and took the lead on Kingston McKoy’s drive with three seconds left.
The Bulldogs got a big lift from Cam Zullinger off the bench in the second quarter. He hit a 3-pointer, had another basket and an assist, and sparked Wilson to a 24-21 halftime lead.
It was just the second time this season Berks Catholic has trailed at the half, but Saints coach Snip Esterly wasn’t too worried.
“We were comfortable going into halftime, because they were making some (tough) shots,” he said. “I didn’t think they could continue with that, and they didn’t.”
Berks Catholic’s biggest advantage came inside, where center Josh McKoy scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed eight reboundfs. Wilson center Luke Levan swatted away one of his early shots but Levan picked up his third foul three minutes into the second half and his fourth in the first minute of the final quarter.
He ended up sitting a lot in the second half and Josh McKoy took advantage, scoring 14 second-half points on 4-of-6 shooting, with four free throws.
Kingston McKoy finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Berks Catholic took the lead for good with an eight-point run early in the second half, all of the points scored by the McKoys. They combined for 20 of Berks Catholic’s 23 second-half points.
“Those two brothers, they make everything tough,” Coldren said. “And they make the other guys good, because you have to spend so much attention on them.”
Berks Catholic remains the lone undefeated team in District 3 and the favorite for the Berks title, though Wilson showed that the championship remains up for grab. Exeter did, too, last week, when it rallied from a 20-point deficit to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes.
“I know we’re right there,” Coldren said. “We’ve just gotta get over that hump (against a good team). Once you get over it, you realize: We can do those things. (There’s a) lot of time left, a lot of big games left.”
Close call or not, the Saints are now within two wins of their best start ever after coming out on top in what well could be a Berks Conference championship preview.
“With Parker not scoring and us still winning the game, that shows that we’re still able to persevere,” Kingston McKoy said. “That’s really what we need (to do). We’ve got a huge target on our backs . . . we’ve just got to keep coming on.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 12 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 44 |
| Wilson | 11 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 40 |
| Saints (12-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Dominguez | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nein | 2-6 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| K. McKoy | 6-11 | 3-3 | 0-3 | 1 | 11 | 15 |
| J. McKoy | 5-11 | 6-8 | 0-2 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| Komoro | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Altimar | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Suski | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 16-36 | 10-13 | 2-12 | 3 | 21/24 | 44 |
| Bulldogs (11-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 6-13 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| Etim | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| McFadden | 2-5 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Akings | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Levan | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Twiford | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Hunsicker | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Zullinger | 3-6 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| C. Hunsicker | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 17-40 | 4-5 | 2-10 | 4 | 14/17 | 40 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 10, Wilson 8. Team rebounds: Berks Catholic 3, Wilson 3.
