Berks Sports Report Paul Roberts
With Carmelo Harper out for the second straight game due to a hip injury, Oye “Junior” Guilavogui was inserted into Berks Catholic’s starting lineup. The 5’10 senior guard made the most of his extended minutes on Saturday afternoon at Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium. He made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points in a resounding 68-47 victory over Reading. “All offseason, I was at Athletes Edge on the shooting machine getting up a lot of shots. I knew that was gonna be my role this year, especially with the attention Kingston attracts,” said Guilavogui. Kingston McKoy had a game-high 22 points as the (17-2, 10-1) Saints clinched the Division 1 championship in the Berks Conference. The 6’4 Colgate commit provided ten points in the fourth quarter when he went 6-for-6 from the foul line. McKoy, a two-time All-State selection, is averaging 21.6 ppg. this season. “You get to see his work ethic every day, see how he prepares his body. It’s good to learn from him,” explained Guilavogui.
The Red Knights limited McKoy to five points in a 48-40 win at the Geigle Complex on December 29th. “We were really hurt from that game…We needed that lost,” emphasized Guilavogui. Berks Catholic is riding an 11-game winning streak after knocking off Muhlenberg, York Country Day, and Reading in consecutive days. Guilavogui set the tone in front of a packed house on Saturday. He squeezed eight points into the opening quarter, including a pair of treys. Guilavogui has hit 26 triples this year, second-most on the team. He’s averaging 5.3 points per game. Gavin Welker got a friendly bounce on his 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer. Welker’s shot from the right wing hit the rim and then the backboard before rattling home. The 6’3 senior forward gave the Saints a 32-18 advantage at the break.
Reading point guard Weshly Rosario had to go to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 7:10 left in the third quarter. Guilavogui then sank two treys to make it 38-24. Johnny Giesa drilled a triple from the left corner to increase the margin to 43-28 with 2:27 remaining in the period. Welker connected from long range to begin the fourth quarter and extend Berks Catholic’s lead to 48-30. Eleven of Welker’s season-high fourteen points came in the final period. “He’s a great shooter. We tell him that at practice all the time. Our coaches always let him know that he has to shoot the ball,” noted Guilavogui. Giesa, a 6’5 junior, added 13 points in a balanced attack. “I think he’s always had it. Since I’ve been playing with him since eighth grade, I’ve seen how good he was. He just needed that confidence and that aggression,” replied Guilavogui.
The Saints made eleven 3-pointers and finished 11-of-12 from the foul line. The (15-6, 8-3) Red Knights converted just three attempts from beyond the arc, all in the fourth quarter. They ended up 4-of-8 from the stripe. Sophomore guard Javon Merriweather contributed a team-high eleven points off the bench. Sophomore Cameron “Bron Bron” Jones had nine points and Jostin DeCastro was held to eight. The 6’3 junior is putting up 21 points a night this season. Reading was coming off a 55-51 overtime victory at Wilson on Friday. The Red Knights had won twelve of their previous fourteen contests before getting blown out by Berks Catholic.
Both of these squads are headed to the BCIAA playoffs. The Saints haven’t claimed a Berks County title since 2018. They fell to Reading 48-41 in the semifinals last year at Santander Arena. “We just take it game by game. When we get there, we’ll get there,” said Guilavogui.