Daniel Alcantara-Reading

The Red Knights were down five to Muhlenberg midway through the third quarter in the BCIAA semifinals. If you thought they were going to panic, you don’t know this squad. Senior forward Daniel Alcantara told me they’ve been in tight games against tough opponents many times in recent years, and they have the utmost confidence in each other. Reading opened the fourth quarter with an 11-3 run and never looked back. The top-seeded Red Knights defeated the fourth-seeded Muhls 70-54 at Santander Arena. Alcantara, a 6’5 all-state selection last season, finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds. He started the final period with a three-point play. Myles Grey followed with a triple from the left wing. That was his only field goal of the game and his 51st trey of the season. Xavier Davis came up with a putback and Justin Walker converted a fast-break layup to force a Muhlenberg timeout with 5:21 remaining. Reading’s advantage had quickly expanded to 60-49. Alcantara splashed a 3-pointer with one minute to go for the cherry on top of the ice cream. The (18-6) Muhls were limited to one field goal over the last eight minutes. They were outscored 21-8 in the fourth quarter. Alcantara admitted that his opinion of Muhlenberg really changed after last week’s 63-61 loss in Laureldale. He knew the Red Knights had to be focused. Edwin Suarez got his fourth foul with 2:25 left in the third period. The Muhls were on top 44-41, however Reading immediately put together an 8-0 run with the 6’6 senior on the bench. Suarez collected 21 rebounds to go along with nine points, ten below his season average. Alcantara said you can’t stop Suarez, you just have to try and slow him down. Junior point guard “Dan Dan” Mosquera kept Muhlenberg in it with 17 points. The Muhls received 15 points from their bench including eight from Luis Valentin who banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Ruben Rodriguez (14) and Davis (12) combined for 26 points. The (21-3) Red Knights have won ten of their last eleven contests. Alcantara emphasized that Rodriguez impacts a game in a variety of ways. The all-state junior guard has 1,161 career points. Alcantara reached 1,000 points in Monday’s quarterfinal rout of Wyomissing. We discussed that special moment at the Geigle Complex. Muhlenberg’s seven-game winning streak came to an end. They were 8-16 from the free throw line with 21 turnovers. Reading went 14-26 from the stripe. The attendance for the semifinals on Wednesday was 2,946. Alcantara called Santander Arena a second home for the Red Knights. They’ll battle #2 seed Berks Catholic on Friday night. Reading is looking for its 24th Berks Conference championship.