Bob Birmingham-Berks Catholic

Caraline Herb made twelve 3-pointers last season against Reading. The 5’7 junior was an amazing 12-15 from beyond the arc in that game last February. You can understand why Berks Catholic head coach Bob Birmingham was glad to see the ball end up in Herb’s hands with five seconds left and the season on the line against Lake-Lehman. “I’ll take that shot any day of the week,” said Birmingham. Unfortunately for the Saints, Herb’s 3-pointer from the right wing was a little long and the Black Knights escaped Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium with a 39-37 victory in the opening round of the Class 4A state playoffs. 6’1 F/C Hailey Kline sank a pair of free throws to give Lake-Lehman a 37-36 advantage with 3:20 remaining. Moments later, Aaliyah Dabney went 1-2 from the stripe to even the score at 37. Berks Catholic was shutout for the last three minutes. Kline grabbed an offensive rebound and put it home with 1:40 to go. Those were the final points of the night. Birmingham emphasized that the (21-4) Black Knights were taller at every position. They outrebounded the Saints 44-19. The #3 seed from District 2 finished with 19 offensive rebounds. Kline (13) and 6’1 senior Claire Dougherty (12) combined for 25 points. They scored all eight of Lake-Lehman’s points in the fourth quarter. Dougherty is a four-year starter who reached 1,000 points last month. She’s committed to Division II Holy Family. The Black Knights did almost all of their damage in the lane, while Berks Catholic relied primarily on perimeter shooting. The Saints were 6-21 from deep. Dougherty hit Lake-Lehman’s only triple in the first quarter. The Black Knights went 8-10 from the foul line, while Berks Catholic was 3-5. Sophomore Brenna Hunt’s layup before the buzzer tied the game at eight after eight minutes. Lake-Lehman open the second quarter with an 8-0 run. Eight of Hunt’s ten points came in that period when the Saints were outscored 18-11. Berks Catholic started the third quarter with a 9-0 spurt which included a trey from Sydney Brown and a three-point play by Caroline Reedy. Freshman Madison Langdon splashed a 3-pointer from the left wing with 5:40 left, and the Saints went up 28-26. Reedy connected from downtown with twenty seconds to play in the quarter. The District 3 runner-up entered the final period with a 32-31 edge. The (21-7) Saints managed just five points over the last eight minutes. They only allowed 13 in the second half. Reedy had a team-high eleven points. The Berks County Player of the Year ends her career with 1,053 points. Birmingham praised Reedy’s consistency. Dabney, a 5’7 senior, added ten points with six coming in the first quarter. Birmingham gave credit to Dabney for her toughness, enthusiasm, and versatility on defense. Senior point guard Mackenzie Gordos will play at DeSales. Birmingham discussed how much she improved over the past four years. Freshmen Sydney Corado and Molly McFadden, along with Langdon, got major minutes this season. Birmingham said, “Our future is always bright.” Three of Berks Catholic’s seven losses came against District 3-4A champion Delone Catholic. Lake-Lehman, the Division 2 champ in the Wyoming Valley Conference, advances to face Jim Thorpe in the second round on Saturday. The Black Knights have been playing without leading scorer Chase Purdy. The 5’11 senior suffered a season-ending knee injury. Freshman Ella Wilson hurt her left ankle early in the third quarter at Berks Catholic. The 5’10 guard returned in the final period. Lake-Lehman never got out of its 2-3 zone. The Saints simply couldn’t get enough shots to drop. Birmingham wraps up his 33rd season with a career record of (617-298).