Wilson and Reading High will be part of tripleheader Saturday at Kutztown
District 3 Class 6A boys basketball finalists Wilson and Reading High will be paired together at Kutztown University when they open PIAA Tournament play Saturday.
The champion Bulldogs (27-1) will play North Penn (12-15) at 4 p.m.; the runner-up Red Knights (18-8) will face St. Joseph’s Prep (13-11) at 1.
North Penn is the 10th-place finisher from District 1. St. Joe’s is the fourth-place finisher from District 12.
Muhlenberg (21-6), the District 3 Class 5A champ, opens Friday at Milton Hershey at 5. The Muhls play South Fayette (16-8), the sixth-place finisher from District 7.
Brandywine Heights (17-9), which finished fourth in the Class 3A tournament, will play Saturday
at Archbishop Wood at 2:30. The Bullets face District 12 champ Neumann-Goretti (22-4).
The Twin Valley girls, the District 3 Class 5A runner-up, will play Saturday at 2:30 at Kutztown University; the Raiders (217) face Radnor (16-10), the fourthplace finisher from District 1.
Reading’s matchup could be a historic one. St. Joe’s Prep coach Speedy Morris, one of the winningest coaches in state history, announced that this will be his final season. His final game could come in a Berks gym should the Red Knights win.
The Bulldogs are in the PIAA Tournament for the second straight year and eighth time in coach Matt Coldren’s 19 seasons. They last won a state tournament game in 2007, when they advanced to the state quarterfinals and matched the school record with 29 wins.
The Red Knights will be making their 45th PIAA appearance, sixth straight and seventh in coach Rick Perez’s nine seasons. They were knocked out in the first round last year by the District 12 fourth-place team, La Salle College.
Reading last won a state game in 2018; it won five straight in 2017 en route to the school’s first PIAA championship.
Muhlenberg is in the state tournament for the second straight year. Last year it opened with a win over Penn Hills at Milton Hershey before losing to Meadville in the second round. This will mark the Muhls’ fifth state tournament appearance. They also made back-to-back appearances in 1989 and 1990.
Neumann-Goretti has won eight state titles over the last 10 seasons, including five straight from 2014-18. The Saints were knocked out in the state quarterfinals last year by Bishop McDevitt of District 12.
Brandywine Heights returns to the state tournament for the first time since 1983, and makes its fourth appearance overall.
Girls
Three Berks girls basketball teams have learned the sites and times for their first-round games in the PIAA Tournament.
Twin Valley and Berks Catholic will meet in the second round in Class 5A if they win their openers.
Twin Valley (21-7), the District 3 runner-up, will take on Radnor (16-10), which finished fourth in District 1, at Kutztown University Saturday at 2:30. It’s the second game of a tripleheader also involving the Reading High and Wilson boys.
Berks Catholic (17-11), the district’s seventh-place finisher, faces Archbishop Wood (19-7), the top seed out of District 12, at Archbishop Ryan Saturday at 2:30.
Winners will meet in the second round. Wood is considered one of the favorites for the Class 5A championship.
Gov. Mifflin (22-6) is headed west after placing fifth in District 3 Class 6A for the second consecutive season. The Mustangs take on District 7 runner-up Bethel Park (213) at Peters Township Friday at 6.
Twin Valley is making its fourth consecutive state tournament appearance. The Raiders won first-round games the previous two seasons. They never have advanced beyond the final 16.
Berks Player of the Year Peyton McDaniel is averaging 22.6 points per game and has 2,047 for her career. The senior moved ahead of Kutztown’s Stacey Jack for fifth place on the county’s alltime list during Twin Valley’s loss to Gettysburg in the district final.
Berks Catholic is back in states for the first time since reaching the Class 4A final two years ago. The Saints defeated Solanco and Lower Dauphin in districts to earn a place in the field.