Rick Perez-Reading

When the calendar turns to February and March, it’s usually time to make more room in the trophy case at Reading High. The Red Knights captured their 24th Berks County championship in front of 3,698 fans at Santander Arena. They defeated #2 seed Berks Catholic 51-35. Three of the Saints’ four losses this season have come against Reading. Ruben Rodriguez came alive in the second quarter with eight points including a dunk in the final minute of the period. The (22-3) Red Knights outscored Berks Catholic 12-3 in the second quarter for a 28-12 advantage at halftime. The Saints came into the night averaging 60 points. Reading’s lead expanded to 35-14 in the third quarter, but Snip Esterly’s group wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Berks Catholic got within six on a layup by Aidan Sands early in the fourth quarter. Rodriguez answered with five straight points on a pair of free throws and a three-point play. That was part of a 9-0 run that put the Red Knights on top 45-30. Rodriguez provided the exclamation point with a thunderous one-handed dunk with just less than two minutes remaining. The all-state guard poured in 22 points and raised his career total to 1,183. Rodriguez had nine points in the final period. Head coach Rick Perez said, “He’s always going to come through. He’s always going to be there when push comes to shove.” We also discussed the contributions of junior forward Amier Burdine. The Reading quarterback scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter. Burdine is also an excellent defender. The Saints managed just seven points over the last eight minutes. They dropped 70 on the Red Knights on January 31st. Perez told me that his players committed to not letting that happen again. Ryan Koch had a game-high 13 points for Berks Catholic. Point guard Jay Jay Jordan chipped in with a dozen. The (20-4) Saints were 9-12 from the free throw line, while Reading went 13-18. It’s the fifth county championship for Perez who improved to (245-72) over eleven seasons. We talked about the expectations at Reading. Perez stressed that he doesn’t care about wins and losses. He focuses on the growth of his players. Perez really appreciates the alumni who come back and support the current players. The Red Knights have won eleven of their last twelve contests. Perez mentioned how much they enjoy playing at Santander Arena. They’re (5-2) against Berks Catholic in championship games. Reading is the #1 seed in the upcoming District 3-6A playoffs. The Saints are the top seed in Class 4A.