Wyomissing Physical Therapy Player of the Week: Panthers’ Mark Rajnath
Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week
Schuylkill Valley coach Taylor Grim said last month he thought Mark Rajnath was poised for a breakout senior season.
Good call.
Rajnath averaged 20.3 points over three games last week, all wins, helping the Panthers improve to 5-1. He earns Wyomissing Physical Therapy Player of the Week honors for the first time.
“He showed flashes of it last year,” said Grim. “He won a game at the buzzer against Conrad Weiser (57-55) when he went to the basket and finished. He was more consistent with his game this summer and he’s been pretty consistent with his numbers this season.”
The 6-2 senior came up big in sparking a huge comeback against Conrad Weiser last week.
He scored a game-high 26 points, 13 in the fourth quarter, as the Panthers dug out of a 21-point second-half hole for a 75-68 win. He also had five rebounds, six assists and five steals.
“Defensively, he’s giving the other team’s point guard problems,” Grim said, “putting a lot of pressure on the ball. He made it difficult for Weiser to get into what they wanted to run.”
Rajnath had 20 points, seven rebounds and eight steals in a 57-48 win over Upper Perkiomen last week and 15 points, four assists and four steals in a 57-54 win over division rival Wyomissing.
For the week he averaged 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.7 steals. For the season he’s averaging 17.7 points. His 36 free throws are tops in the Berks Conference.
Rajnath had a strong second half last season and carried it over into the summer, where he was a finalist for the Most Valuable Player award in the West Reading Summer League. He helped the Panthers go 8-3 and battle Warwick in the opening round of the playoffs.
It was a momentum-builder heading into this season.
“He missed a lot of games (last season), or people would know more about him,” said Grim. “He’s the quickest kid we have. He attacks the basket; he’s developed his jump shot. Defensively he closes distances as well as anyone we have. That matters in our press.”
The Panthers are 1-0 in division play with a key meeting Tuesday at home against Berks III preseason favorite Fleetwood.
Players considered for Player of the Week honors are nominated by their coaches or by members of the MikeDragoSports.com coverage team.
Also considered for Wyomissing Physical Therapy Player of the Week:
- Jayden Kantner, Brandywine Heights
- Donovan Gingrich, Conrad Weiser
- Xander Menapace, Hamburg
- Xzayvion Robertson, Muhlenberg
- Keith Neal, Oley Valley
- Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- Kannon Zdimal, Twin Valley
Players selected last season:
- Dec. 20: Matt Harley, Gov. Mifflin
- Dec. 27: Colin Payne, Exeter
- Jan. 3: Jake Karnish, Fleetwood
- Jan. 10: Myles Grey, Reading High
- Jan. 17: Danny Turchi, Oley Valley
- Jan. 24: Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- Jan. 31: Julian O’Brien, Wyomissing
- Feb. 7: Xavier Goodman, Kutztown
- Feb. 14: Danny Turchi, Oley Valley
- Feb. 21: Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- Feb. 28: Hector Tiburcio, Antietam
- March 7: Joey Chapman, Reading High
