DEFENSE DELIVERS FOR RED KNIGHTS
Reading High turns in a stellar defensive performance to beat New Castle 72-48 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal
A stout defensive performance and another strong offensive outing from Berks Player of the Year Ruben Rodriguez led Reading High to a dominant 7248 win over New Castle in the PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinals Saturday at Altoona High School.
Rodriguez scored a game-high 27 points and had seven rebounds to help lead the Berks and District 3 champion Red Knights (30-1). Overall, Reading High shot 31-of50 from the field and Myles Grey (16) and Aris Rodriguez (15) — like Ruben Rodriguez, All-Berks seniors — finished with doubledigit points. Grey also had six rebounds.
A fast start propelled Reading High to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and the Red Knights stayed in front from there. Ruben Rodriguez had nine first-quarter points while Grey had six. The Red Hurricanes (28-3) only briefly led after an Isaiah Boice field goal put them up 5-4.
“You can just feel it when it clicks for them, and I knew that it clicked here today,” Red Knights coach Rick Perez said. “There was a moment where I teared up because I knew they were locked in. They executed on so many different levels. From our character habits, to our offensive habits, to our defensive habits; I’m just so proud of them.
“It sounds cliché, but the reality is fast starts are vital.”
Reading High forced seven turnovers in the first quarter and led by as much as 12 at 19-7 as the Red Knights were clicking on all cylinders. Ruben Rodriguez continued his offensive pressure throughout, scoring six points in the second quarter and 10 in the third. He has 1,980 career points.
Reading High led 33-20 at the half and 57-33 after three quarters.
“A lot of the times we get out to big leads and we let them creep back a little bit,” Ruben Rodriguez said, “but I feel like today we did a really good job just stamping in our lead. We went from like a five- to 10-(point lead) and it slowly started building up. So that’s what it’s about; making everything hard for them and taking advantage of our opportunities.”
The defensive presence of senior Amier Burdine, as well as Nick Chapman, helped to shut down New Castle’s Josh Anderson, who came in averaging 18 points per game but was held to just three. Da’Juan Young led District 7 runner-up New Castle (244) with 18 points. Boice had 13 points.
The Red Hurricanes only got as close as 16 points in the second half.
“We knew coming into the game, we have to be aggressive on the ball and force them,” Burdine said, “because when they try to get through with their offense, they’re gonna run their offense the whole time. So we tried to disrupt their offense and create turnovers and that’s how we got it done.”
For Perez, the key to shutting down New Castle involved pressure around the perimeter.
“Coach (Ralph) Blundo runs an outstanding offense.” Perez said. “Those young men are extremely disciplined (and are) championship caliber. So we couldn’t get caught up in all their sets and all their looks because we would have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We just need to make sure we get them out of their comfort zone and really extended their offense out.”
Ruben Rodriguez scored 10 in the third quarter, including the first points of the second half on of a 3-pointer off a long pass from Aris Rodriguez. The Red Knights outscored New Castle 24-13 in the third.
“We went through our offense and made great plays and everybody was hot today,” Burdine
said. “We just had a great game.”
The Red Knights will face District 1 runner-up Spring-Ford in the semifinal round on Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. The Rams defeated State College 45-39 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals for the first time in program history. Reading is in the semis for the third time in the last
seven seasons.
“I know a lot about (SpringFord) coach Joe Dempsey,” Perez said. “He’s a very good friend of mine. He’s an outstanding coach. He used to beat me up when he was at La Salle. So we’re going to have to get to work as soon as we get on the bus (home).”