Sydney Corado provides sneak preview, big shots, in Saints’ win
By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
Anyone who follows Berks Catholic’s girls basketball team closely knows Sydney Corado’s time is coming. The freshman is going to be a centerpiece for the Saints. That day will be here soon.
Consider Thursday night a sneak preview. With All-Berks guard Caraline Herb out of the lineup due to illness, Corado was forced into more minutes. They were fourth-quarter minutes. Crunch time against one of the best teams in the league.
Corado responded with a pair of long jumpers and helped Berks Catholic keep its Berks record perfect. The Saints held off Gov. Mifflin 50-45 in a Berks League Division I game at Wolf Gymnasium.
With the score close and the building loud, Corado’s composure was put to the test.
“I love it,” she said with a smile. “I was just going to go into it like a normal game and do my best. Like always.”
Corado was one of the players coach Bob Birmingham pointed out during the preseason. The 5-10 guard was standing a few feet away, playing on the wing and knocking down 3-pointers. One could see reasons to be excited. They were impossible to miss.
For now, Corado is one of the first options off the bench. She has played in every game and is averaging 4.1 points.
“She’s getting more confident,” Birmingham said. “A lot of times with younger kids they are shy about shooting the ball. Sometimes Sydney shoots and misses and she doesn’t shoot any more. I told her last night at practice, ‘You’ve got to keep shooting the ball.’”
Birmingham gave the ultimate vote of confidence when he kept Corado on the floor until the end. This was a one-possession game for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. Every play, every mistake was potentially decisive.
The ball kept finding Corado and she always seemed to be open. Twice she cashed in with shots just inside the arc. The first one put Berks Catholic ahead by one. The second one extended the lead to 43-40 with 3:12 left. They were big-time shots on her way to seven points, the second-highest total of her young career.
What was Corado feeling during those pressure-filled minutes? Was she nervous?
“Before the game, yes,” she said. “But when I’m out there I feel normal.”
Caroline Reedy finished with a team-high 13 points and 7 rebounds. Reedy is a four-year varsity player inching toward 1,000 career points. When she was a freshman, not so long ago, her role was similar to Corado’s. Fit in. Contribute when you can.
“We just want to encourage her,” Reedy said. “If she messes up, we pick her back up. Do the teammate type of thing. In practice we try our best against each other. That’s going to develop good players.”
It’s hard to imagine a better situation for a talented freshman. There are senior leaders in Reedy, Aaliyah Dabney and Mackenzie Gordos. There are high expectations. But there’s also a chance to ease into the varsity realm without having to carry the team.
Corado appreciates that not every player walks into this kind of setting.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “I love my teammates. It’s just a great atmosphere. They give really great advice. They’re always helping me when I need it. If I don’t know what I’m doing, which is some of the time I’m out there, they’ll tell me what to do.”
This was a tough test for Berks Catholic without Herb, who’s expected to return next week. The Saints found a way to defeat Mifflin while missing their best 3-point shooter and one of their top defenders.
Berks Catholic (9-0, 16-3) isn’t successful solely because of talent. The Saints excel in the margins. They guard well, they don’t turn the ball over and they shoot 70% from the foul line. Those are the things you can see. There are also things you can’t see. Their positive attitude. How much they like playing together.
Madison Langdon, Berks Catholic’s other fast-rising freshman, had 12 points Thursday. She has scored 27 points in two matchups against Mifflin.
With the game on the line, BC had three seniors and two freshmen on the floor. The stars of the present and the future. Corado, Langdon and fellow freshman Molly McFadden are going to be part of more great teams down the line.
“I give a lot of credit to our upperclassmen,” Birmingham said. “They don’t treat them like freshmen. If you come into the game and you’re open, you knock it down. We have confidence in you. We trust you. You see it in the game. They’re happy for these young kids when they’re doing things well.”
Anyah Ortiz scored 13 points to lead Mifflin (6-3, 11-7), which fell into third place in Berks I. Ortiz had a chance at a tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds. Dabney forced a turnover and scored a layup at the buzzer.
Berks Catholic is three wins away from running the table in the toughest division in the league. Without Corado rising to the occasion, that might not be the case.
“She’s going to be really good,” Reedy said. “She’s hitting 3’s all over the place. That’s incredible for someone who’s 5-10. She developed that shot instead of always being put in the post.”
There are bigger days ahead for Corado. This was only a sneak preview.
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