Three seconds left in overtime, your team is down by one point, and you’re at the foul line. No, this wasn’t a movie. This was the District 3-6A Championship in front of an estimated 6,800 fans at the Giant Center. The young man at the line was Yadiel Cruz. He …
Read More »Basketball
Reece Garvin-Exeter
Reece Garvin suffered an injury in the Berks Conference Championship and missed Exeter’s first three games of the District 3-5A playoffs. The versatile 6’3 junior was thrilled to be cleared for the District 3 Final on Thursday at the Giant Center. “It was amazing. They’ve been fighting hard for me …
Read More »Aiden Soumas-Fleetwood
It’s been 33 years since Fleetwood won a District 3 championship in boys basketball. The (22-3) Tigers get a shot at gold on Thursday afternoon at the Giant Center. They face #1 seed Berks Catholic in the District 3-4A Final at 12:45pm. “That was our goal this year. It’s honestly …
Read More »Aaron Anders-Wyomissing
Wyomissing hadn’t made a 3-pointer all game. Amaya Stewart had only made four shots from beyond the arc all season. The beauty of sports is there isn’t a script. Stewart drilled a top of the key trey with six seconds remaining to give the Spartans a stunning 24-23 victory over …
Read More »Snip Esterly-Berks Catholic
Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium only holds about one thousand people. It can get very loud in a hurry. The decibel levels reached a peak right before the third quarter buzzer when Josh McKoy threw down a powerful one-handed dunk. Top-seeded Berks Catholic outscored #4 seed Octorara 17-7 in that period. The …
Read More »Ruben Rodriguez-Reading
Star players are expected to step to the forefront in the playoffs. Ruben Rodriguez stole the show on Friday at the Geigle Complex. The 6’2 senior guard erupted for 42 points in a hard-fought 69-58 victory over #8 seed Chambersburg. The (25-1) Red Knights extended their winning streak to 16 …
Read More »Matt Ashcroft-Exeter
Exeter head coach Matt Ashcroft was expecting a tough game on Thursday in the District 3-5A quarterfinals. Milton Hershey has four District 3 championships on its resume. The Spartans won the Mid-Penn Keystone Division title this year. They came into Reiffton averaging nearly 64 points per game. The Eagles held …
Read More »Seamus Breslin-Wilson
It was fitting that longtime Wilson boys basketball coach Reggie Weiss was in attendance for the Bulldogs’ playoff game on Tuesday. Weiss was the architect of the program. His teams won 362 games and were well known for their hard-nosed man-to-man defense. Matt Coldren, a 1990 Wilson graduate, has passed …
Read More »Ben DeBalko-Oley Valley
Ben DeBalko worked on his jumper all summer with assistant coach Dan Korejwo. DeBalko tried to take 1,000 shots three or four days a week. His hard work has paid off during his sophomore campaign. The 6’ guard splashed back-to-back 3-pointers from the left corner to give Oley Valley a …
Read More »Maddie Campbell-Wyomissing
It was a historic night at Santander Arena for the Wyomissing girls basketball team. The Spartans defeated Reading 46-28 to win their first Berks League championship. “It feels amazing. It feels even better that we did it together as a team,” said Maddie Campbell. As usual, Wyomissing got the job …
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