Snip Esterly-Berks Catholic

Even longtime head coach Snip Esterly wasn’t sure how his Saints were able to pull this one out. “I have no clue. I thought we were done,” he said with a smile. Berks Catholic trailed Muhlenberg 41-33 with 1:39 left on Thursday at Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium. The comeback was fueled by a thunderous baseline slam by Kingston McKoy. “It started with Kingston’s dunk. That got out kids fired up, our crowd fired up,” emphasized Esterly. McKoy finished with a game-high 23 points in the 54-46 overtime victory. The 6’4 Colgate commit scored 19 points after the third quarter. McKoy went 7-for-8 from the foul line and provided nine points in overtime. “I have all the faith in the world in him because he’s such a competitor,” remarked Esterly. Sophomore guard Carmelo Harper added 17 points, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key that tied it at 42-42 with 27 seconds remaining. Eli Hemmings missed a turnaround jumper from the foul line at the buzzer. The (14-5, 7-3) Muhls fell to third place in Division 1 of the Berks Conference. The (15-2, 9-1) Saints are on top of the standings.

Berks Catholic didn’t look like a first place team in the opening half. Muhlenberg’s zone defense held the Saints to twelve points and just two in the second quarter. The Muhls were on top 13-10 after the first period and 23-12 at halftime. McKoy, a two-time All-State pick, was scoreless after 16 minutes. Berks Catholic began the third quarter with a 7-0 run. A three-point play by sophomore Josh Miller restored Muhlenberg’s margin to 30-23 with 1:05 to go in the third period. The Muhls were in front 30-25 with eight minutes on the clock. They missed seven free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime and ended up 15-of-23 from the stripe. The Saints went 13-of-19 from the foul line, including 8-of-10 in overtime.

After McKoy’s right-handed dunk, Harper made a layup and was fouled with 1:01 to play in regulation. He missed the free throw, but McKoy grabbed the offensive rebound and sank a pair of foul shots to pull Berks Catholic within 41-39. LJ Armstrong split two free throws with 50 seconds left. That allowed Harper to even the score at 42-42 with a 3-pointer that sent the fans into a frenzy.

McKoy, who poured in 40 points when these schools met on December 19th, started overtime with a jumper from the right elbow. He fed Gavin Welker for a layup and a 46-44 edge with 2:02 remaining. After Hemmings went 1-of-2 from the foul line, McKoy converted two free throws with 1:12 to go. Hemmings then misfired on a triple from the right wing. McKoy drained two more foul shots for a 50-45 lead with 54 seconds to play. Muhlenberg committed a turnover on its next possession and McKoy was fouled. This time he split his two attempts for a 51-45 advantage with 36 seconds on the clock. Oye “Junior” Guilavogui, the smallest player on the court, snuck in for an offensive rebound after McKoy’s missed free throw. McKoy was fouled again and went 2-for-2 from the line to extend the Saints’ cushion to 53-45.

Johnny Giesa chipped in with nine points as Berks Catholic won its ninth consecutive game. Each team made three 3-pointers. All of the Muhls’ treys came in the first quarter. Armstrong finished with a team-high 18 points. The junior point guard was 7-of-11 from the stripe. Nelson “Coco” Malave had 17 points, while Hemmings was limited to six. The 6’4 junior guard also had six points when Muhlenberg lost to Berks Catholic 69-55 last month. Hemmings is averaging 16.2 ppg. this season. Muhls’ coach Matt Flowers switched to a zone defense on Thursday. He also utilized a 2-2-1 trap. Esterly thought his team moved the ball a lot more effectively against the zone in the second half. “Night and day, I mean the second half we did a much better job and Kingston looked more aggressive too. He was trying to create. We gotta learn how to get that ball in the middle and cut baseline,” explained Esterly.

The Saints lead Division 1 by one and a-half games over Reading. The (14-5, 7-2) Red Knights visit Berks Catholic at 2pm on Saturday. Reading is on the road tonight versus Wilson. Meanwhile, the Saints have a non-league contest at York Country Day this evening. Esterly has been part of 1,085 games over 37 years as a head coach. This was win #855 of his career. He said it was in the top 10 as far as excitement level is concerned. “That was neat. When you get a full house like that, it’s crazy because you can’t hear. It’s what high school basketball should be,” replied Esterly.