Boys: Red Knights defeat Berks Catholic for their first title since 2019

When Berks Catholic pulled within six points of Reading High early in the fourth quarter of the Berks Conference title game, coach Rick Perez called a timeout.

“You’re in a championship game playing against a championship contender,” Perez told the Red Knights. “You have to handle the ebbs and flows of this game. Our time will come again.”

Led by the indefatigable Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High put away the Saints with its tenacious defense in a 51-35 victory Friday night at Santander Arena.

The 6-2 Rodriguez scored nine points in the fourth quarter, punctuating the Red Knights’ first Berks championship since 2019 with a breakaway dunk with 1:40 left.

“Reading just turned it up a notch,” Berks Catholic coach Snip Esterly said. “And Rodriguez decided to take the game in his hands.”

The top-seeded Red Knights (21-3) won for the 11th time in 12 games and enabled Rodriguez and several others to call themselves county champions for the first time in their careers.

“It feels great to finally get one,” he said. “It just feels good to do it with my brothers. I’m just happy we got this opportunity.”

Reading was intent on playing better defense than it did in an 87-70 win at Berks Catholic earlier this month. The Saints made 12 3-pointers that night and scored the second-most points against the Red Knights this season.

Berks Catholic made just four from behind the arc Friday night.

“We got out on the shooters,” Perez said. “We got out on the extra pass. We got out on the right guys. At their place, we were losing shooters. We were very lackadaisical. We took things for granted.

“Rebounding and closing out on shooters are weak parts of our game, but the guys answered the call in these playoffs.”

Reading held Berks Catholic to five points over a 14-minute span from late in the first quarter to midway through the second quarter. The Red Knights built a 3514 lead on Rodriguez’s layup with 4:44 left before the Saints went on a 16-1 run to pull within 36-30 early in the fourth quarter.

The Red Knights, as they often do, responded with their suffocating defense and went on a 9-0 spurt to seal it.

“I just wanted to control the ball and for us to take our time,” Rodriguez said. “We had to calm down, stay poised and finish the game right.”